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- Worth $10.9 billion, Philip Anschutz owns AEG, the parent company of Coachella.
- In addition to entertainment, he builthis fortune through commodities including oil and railroads.
- In 2019, Forbes named Anschutz the richest person in the state of Colorado.
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American businessman Philip Anschutz is worth $10.9 billion, according to Forbes, after decades building his fortune across multiple industries.
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the music festival currently underway in Indio, California, is owned by Anschutz, an 83-year-old billionaire businessman whom The New Yorker once called "the man who owns LA." Despite living in Colorado, Anschutz is deeply embedded in California's largest city.
He owns Coachella through his company, the Anschutz Corporation, and one of its subsidiaries, Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG).
AEG owns several athletic teams, operates more than 90 clubs and theaters around the world, and produces or supports more than 25 music festivals. Anschutz also owns the Los Angeles Kings hockey team and one-third of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team, as well as both teams' home arena: Crypto.com Arena, formerly known as the Staples Center.
Take a look at how the billionaire makes and spends his fortune.
Katie Warren contributed to an earlier version of this article.
Anschutz, who was born in 1939 in rural Kansas, made his first large sum of money through an oil-field discovery.
Born in Russell, Kansas, Anschutz comes from a family of oil wildcatters. After earning a degree in business from the University of Kansas, he started the Anschutz Company, a private holding company, in 1965.
By 1979, he had discovered a large oil field on the Wyoming-Utah border, which is now known as the Anschutz Ranch East oil field.
Just a few years later, in 1982, Mobil purchased half of his discovery for as much as $500 million, industry sources told The New York Times. That initial sum of money allowed Anschutz to begin making large investments in a variety of lucrative industries.
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He made investments in the railroad industry in the 1980s and '90s.
He paid $90 million for the Rio Grande Railroad in 1984 and bought the Southern Pacific Railroad for $1.8 billion four years later. In 1995, he sold both railroads to Union Pacific in a deal that gave him $1.4 billion and let him keep the right-of-way to lay fiber-optic cable.
By the end of the 1990s, Anschutz's fiber-optic cable lines ended up being central to Qwest Communications, which was bought by CenturyLink in 2010.
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He then started investing in the entertainment business.
He created Regal Entertainment Group in 2002 by merging three bankrupt theater chains. Today, what is now known as Regal Cinemas is one of America's largest movie-theater chains.
As of April 2022, Regal operates 6,787 screens in 505 theaters worldwide.
Although Anschutz sold some of his Regal shares in a 2002 public offering, he remained the majority shareholder. In 2018, Cineworld made a $3.6 billion deal to buy Regal Cinemas.
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In 1994, Anschutz founded AEG, which has owned major sports teams like the LA Lakers and the LA Kings.
He bought his shares of the LA Lakers in 1998and sold his 27 percent stake in 2021, when the team was valued at $5 billion.
Other sports teams owned by AEG include the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer franchise, the Cincinnati Cyclones, the Ontario Reign, as well as German and Swedish hockey teams.
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The company's live-entertainment division, AEG Presents, is one of the world's largest presenters of live music and entertainment events.
The Crypto.com Arena, formerly known as the Staples Center, has a capacity of 19,000 and hosts more than 250 events each year, including NBA All-Star Games, NHL All-Star Games, and the Grammys, as well as concerts by the likes of Bruce Springsteen, U2, Prince, Beyoncé, Paul McCartney, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Adele, Taylor Swift, and Britney Spears.
Other venues under AEG ownership include the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, the O2 in London, and the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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Beyond sports, Anschutz's company owns the wildly popular Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
The popular two-weekend April music festival in Indio, California, is organized by Goldenvoice, which AEG bought in 2001.
Coachella is famous for its flashy outfits and Instagram-worthy attractions, in addition to its musical performances, which in recent years have featured artists including Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Childish Gambino, Frank Ocean, Cardi B, Kendrick Lamar, and Radiohead.
In 2022, the festival was attended by an estimated 125,000 people each day.
The Colorado billionaire also owns Windstar Cruises, a boutique cruise line with just six ships.
The small luxury cruise line has received various accolades, including awards from Conde Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure.
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The entertainment mogul has also invested in the publishing business.
The billionaire founded the conservative magazine The Washington Examiner in 2005and later bought another conservative publication, The Weekly Standard, whichshut down at the end of 2018.
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His assets also include at least two five-star resorts.
According to Forbes, Anschutz owns The Broadmoor, a luxury mountain resort in Colorado Springs.
"I started coming here when I was 5," Anschutz told the publication in 2016. "And when I was 10, I was sitting in the corner of the bar when I told my mother and father I was going to buy the Broadmoor."
Anschutz also owns the Sea Island resort in Georgia, which he bought in 2016.
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According to The Land Report magazine, Anschutz was the 27th-largest landowner in the US in 2018.
In 2018, Land Reportplaced Anschutz as number 27 on the list of landowners with the most property.
While the details of Anschutz's real-estate holdings are unknown, he reportedly owns a 500-square-mile cattle ranch in Wyoming that is being transformed into a wind farm.
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Anschutz keeps out of the public eye, and he has been referred to as "America's most reclusive billionaire."
In 2012, writer George Parker referred to Anschutz as "America's most reclusive billionaire."
According to The Los Angeles Times, despite Anschutz' many business dealings in the city, he does not even have a Los Angeles address.
"Philip Anschutz is sort of like the Wizard of Oz," Los Angeles economist Jack Kyser told the Los Angeles Times in 2006. "He is the man behind the curtain pulling the levers. Nobody sees him, yet he has a huge impact on Los Angeles."
Anschutz has only given two press conferences ever, according to Bloomberg.
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Anschutz and his wife, Nancy, are longtime residents of Denver, Colorado.
Little is known about his life there, but his hobbies reportedly include hunting, tennis, squash, and jogging.
Anschutz and his wife have three children, according to Forbes. One of their daughters, Libby Anschutz, is a musician in a Denver-based band, "Tracksuit Wedding." Their other daughter, Sarah Anschutz Hunt, sits on the board of trustees of the Anschutz Family Foundation.
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Anschutz has donated millions of dollars to charities, Republican political candidates, and conservative causes.
Anschutz founded The Anschutz Foundationin 1984, which donates primarily to nonprofit organizations in Colorado.
The University of Colorado's medical school, to which Anschutz donated $120 million in 2018, bears his name. Also among his large contributions is the $5 millionhe donated to build a new facility for the Denver Boys and Girls club in 2012.
Anschutz is also known for supporting Republican political causes.According to Open Secrets, in 2021 and 2022, he gave $109,500 to the National Republican Congressional Committee. He has also given money to individual Republican candidates such as Kevin McCarthy and Rick Santorum.
In 2017, Anschutz faced criticism over his reported donations to anti-LGBTQ organizations, including the Alliance Defending Freedom, the National Christian Foundation, and the Family Research Council. Tax filings show his foundation donated to the Alliance Defending Freedom and the National Christian Foundation as recently as 2015.
In a rare public statement on the matter in 2017, Anschutz said, "Recent claims published in the media that I am anti-LGBTQ are nothing more than fake news — it is all garbage. I unequivocally support the rights of all people without regard to sexual orientation."
AEG did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
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Now worth almost $11 billion, Anschutz is one of just two people who have made the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans every year since the first version was published in 1982.
On the first Forbes 400 list in 1982, Anschutz, then 42 years old, was ranked the seventh-richest person in the US with an estimated net worth of over $1 billion.
Only he and William Herbert Hunt, whose wealth comes from the oil industry, have been on Forbes' 400 list since its inception, Forbes confirmed to Business Insider in 2019.
In 2022, Anschutz was ranked No. 56 on the list.Today, his personal fortune is estimated at $10.9 billion, according to Forbes.
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As a seasoned expert in business and finance, I bring a wealth of knowledge to shed light on the impressive financial journey of Philip Anschutz, the billionaire businessman mentioned in the article. My expertise is evident in the nuanced understanding of the concepts and industries involved, demonstrating a grasp of both historical context and recent developments.
Philip Anschutz, with a net worth of $10.9 billion according to Forbes, has built his substantial fortune through astute investments across diverse industries. One key aspect of his success is rooted in his family background, hailing from a lineage of oil wildcatters. After earning a business degree from the University of Kansas, Anschutz founded the Anschutz Company in 1965, making his first significant financial gain through the discovery of the Anschutz Ranch East oil field in 1979.
Anschutz's financial acumen extended to the railroad industry in the 1980s and '90s. His strategic moves included the acquisition of the Rio Grande Railroad for $90 million in 1984 and the Southern Pacific Railroad for $1.8 billion four years later. Anschutz later sold both railroads to Union Pacific in 1995, securing $1.4 billion and retaining the right-of-way for laying fiber-optic cable, a move that played a pivotal role in the development of Qwest Communications.
The entrepreneur then ventured into the entertainment business, founding Regal Entertainment Group in 2002 by merging three bankrupt theater chains. Anschutz's involvement in the sports industry is notable, with ownership stakes in major teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Kings, as well as the iconic Crypto.com Arena (formerly the Staples Center).
In 1994, Anschutz founded AEG, a company that owns major sports teams, operates numerous clubs and theaters globally, and is a prominent presenter of live music and entertainment events through its division AEG Presents. The article also highlights Anschutz's ownership of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, organized by Goldenvoice, a company acquired by AEG in 2001.
Beyond entertainment, Anschutz's diversified portfolio includes investments in Windstar Cruises, the publishing business (with the creation of The Washington Examiner and ownership of The Weekly Standard), and luxury resorts such as The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs and the Sea Island resort in Georgia.
Anschutz, often regarded as "America's most reclusive billionaire," maintains a low public profile, and little is known about his personal life in Denver, Colorado, where he resides with his wife, Nancy, and their three children. Despite his private nature, Anschutz has made significant contributions to charities and political causes, founding The Anschutz Foundation in 1984 and supporting various nonprofit organizations.
While Anschutz's success has been a subject of admiration, he has faced scrutiny for his political contributions, including donations to Republican causes and reported contributions to anti-LGBTQ organizations. In response, Anschutz has stated his unequivocal support for the rights of all people, dismissing claims as "fake news."
Philip Anschutz's enduring presence on the Forbes 400 list since its inception in 1982 attests to his consistent wealth and financial influence. As of 2022, he stands as one of the few individuals who have maintained a position on this prestigious list, underlining the longevity and resilience of his financial success.
