How Josh built the fortune
Josh Harris built his wealth in two stages. The first and larger one came from Apollo Global Management, which he co-founded in 1990 with Leon Black, Marc Rowan and a small group of colleagues from the collapsed investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert. Apollo began by buying distressed bonds and troubled companies in the aftermath of the junk bond crash, and over three decades it grew into one of the largest alternative asset managers in the world, with businesses in private equity, credit and insurance.
Harris was closely involved in Apollo's private equity side, working on large buyouts in chemicals, manufacturing and consumer businesses. Apollo listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011, and his stake as a co-founder, along with his share of fund profits, made him very wealthy. He left Apollo in 2022 after a leadership reshuffle in which Marc Rowan became chief executive.
The second stage is sports ownership. Starting with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2011, Harris and his partner David Blitzer assembled a group of teams and venues that has grown sharply in value as media rights and franchise prices rose. In 2023 he led the group that bought the Washington Commanders of the National Football League, one of the most expensive team purchases on record.
Companies and holdings
Harris's main business and sports interests include:
- 26North, an investment firm he founded in 2022 that manages private equity, credit and insurance related strategies.
- Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, co-founded with David Blitzer, which owns the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA and the New Jersey Devils of the NHL and operates the Prudential Center arena in Newark.
- Controlling ownership of the Washington Commanders and their stadium, Northwest Stadium, in Landover, Maryland.
- Stakes in other sports, including a past investment in the English football club Crystal Palace.
He also retains investments linked to his years at Apollo.
Early life and career
Joshua Jordan Harris was born in December 1964 and grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, where he became a fan of the city's football team as a boy. He studied at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a degree in economics, and later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
He started his career at Drexel Burnham Lambert in the mergers and acquisitions department in the late 1980s, an experience that placed him at the center of the leveraged buyout boom. When Drexel collapsed in 1990, he was one of the young bankers who followed Leon Black to start Apollo. Harris rose to become a senior managing director and one of the firm's most influential dealmakers, sitting on the boards of many portfolio companies over the years.
Philanthropy and public life
Harris and his wife, Marjorie, have signed the Giving Pledge and give through the Harris Family Charitable Foundation. Their gifts have supported education, social mobility and health programs, including significant donations to the Wharton School and to organizations serving children in Philadelphia, New Jersey and the Washington area. The sports teams he controls also run community foundations focused on youth sports and neighborhood investment.
As owner of the Commanders, he has been involved in efforts to rebuild the franchise's reputation after years of controversy under the previous owner and to secure a new stadium site. In 2025 the team announced plans for a new stadium on the site of the old RFK Stadium in Washington, a project that drew support from local leaders after years of negotiation.
Harris is known for an analytical approach to sports management, bringing data driven methods from investing into team operations, ticketing and arena development. That approach has had mixed results on the field over the years, particularly with the 76ers, but the commercial value of the teams has risen substantially under his ownership group.
He has spoken about growing up as a fan of the Washington franchise and about the personal significance of owning his hometown team, which has made him a more visible public figure than during his decades as a dealmaker.