Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was added as a minority owner of the Denver Broncos, the NFL team revealed on Monday.
The Walton-Penner Ownership Group, led by Walmart heir Rob Walton, Greg Penner, and Carrie Walton-Penner, said Rice, a known football enthusiast who served on the inaugural College Football Playoff selection committee from 2013-16, brings a lot of experience and knowledge to the team.
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“A highly respected public servant, accomplished academic and corporate leader, Secretary Rice is well known as a passionate and knowledgeable football fan who has worked to make the sport stronger and better,” Walton said in a statement released by the Broncos. “Her unique experience and extraordinary judgment will be a great benefit to our group and the Broncos organization.”
Rice, who served as the national security adviser to former President George W. Bush from 2001-05 and served as the first black secretary of state from 2005-09, moved to Denver when she was 12, and received a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Denver University.
The ownership group announced an agreement to purchase the Broncos last month for a record-breaking $4.65 billion, though it has yet to be fully approved.
Rice, now the director of the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank at Stanford University, said she was honored to join the Bronco family.
“It is an honor to be part of this ownership group,” Rice said in a statement released by the Hoover Institution, according to the Washington Post. “Football has been an integral part of my life since the moment it was introduced to me, and I am thrilled to be a part of the Broncos organization today. I spent much of my younger years in Denver, so to be able to combine my love of the game with my love for this great city and team is an adventure of a lifetime and a great opportunity.”
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Mellody Hobson, a black woman who is the co-CEO of Ariel Investments, chairwoman of the board of the Starbucks Corporation, and director of JPMorgan Chase, also joined Walton’s ownership group.
The acquisition is expected to be finalized in time for the team’s first game of the regular season against the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 12.
