John Henry
From SoSH
John W. Henry (born September 13, 1949) is the principal owner of the Boston Red Sox (Fenway Sports Group). He is also the owner of the creatively named John W. Henry & Company Inc., an alternative asset management fund.
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Early life
Henry was born in Illinois but grew up on his parents' farm in Arkansas. When his father died, he took over running the farm at the age of 15. At the time, he was principally known for being an excellent producer of soybeans, which are supposedly really useful in tofu and such but actually are pretty gross, especially without any seasoning.
Henry never earned a college degree, thereby proving that one does not need to graduate from college to be successful. He wrote songs for awhile, but then put his uncanny natural talent for numbers to good use in creating some unique formulas to trade successfully on the futures market.
In 1982, the John W. Henry & Company Inc. was founded, operating first in Newport Beach, CA, then in Westport, CT, and finally in Boca Raton, FL.
Entry into baseball
With the money he made on the commodities market, Henry, a longtime St. Louis Cardinals fan, purchased the Florida Marlins in the late 1990s, immediately after Wayne Huizenga totally gutted their 1997 championship team (a recurring theme with the Marlins). He promised to get the Marlins a new stadium, as Dolphin Stadium is a huge dump for baseball and should be used solely for football except that everybody involved is too cheap to build a separate baseball stadium. Henry's quest failed (also a recurring theme with the Marlins) and his tenure in Florida is generally not well-regarded, though the team did lay the foundations for its 2003 World Series championship during that time.
In 2001, after failing to close a deal for the Anaheim Angels, Henry joined up with Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino to put up the cash necessary to buy the Red Sox. The bidding process was regarded with suspicion, as TV mogul Charles Dolan seemed to have put up the most money but the team was awarded to the Henry group anyway, leading to fighting afterwards. In fact, had Dolan not offered to buy out the then-minority owners, thus reopening the bidding inadvertently, he would be the Red Sox owner today. Given Dolan's son's record with the New York Knicks, perhaps Red Sox fans should be grateful.
Henry partnered with the New York Times, who acquired 17% of New England Sports Ventures, the holding company which acquired the Sox, Fenway Park, and the Sox 80% ownership in NESN.
Red Sox owner
Henry's ownership of the Red Sox has seen three straight playoff appearances from 2003 - 2005 and two World Series Championships (2004 and 2007). Payroll has remained consistently at the luxury tax threshold, and the value of the franchise has skyrocketed as the Red Sox became a brand unto themselves.
Henry's ownership style, in keeping with his mild-mannered, quiet personality, has generally been hands-off, which worked fairly well until the end of 2005, when it didn't. A dramatic explosion occurred in the front office, and when the dust had settled, ownership realized that it had somehow managed to misplace Theo Epstein. In a deeply weird, funereal press conference following the accident, Henry asked himself, "Maybe I'm not fit to be the principal owner of the Boston Red Sox," a statement he later rejected. It was during this tumultuous time that Henry came on SoSH to chat about the front office. Henry managed to lure Epstein back to the team in early 2006 and has since promised to involve himself more in the day-to-day business of the club.
Trivia
- Henry is married to Peggy Hewett and has a daughter, born in 1996.
- He is banned from blackjack in Vegas because of his ability to count cards.
- Henry wears really goofy-looking cowboy hats during spring training.
- Henry is the richest member of SoSH. He famously said, "That thread requires a password. what is P&G?"
- Henry showed up to his first day of Spring Training with the Red Sox in his private bus decorated with a large "Florida Marlins".
