Meet the Hunt family, the billionaires behind the Kansas City Chiefs and one of America’s richest dynasties

In 1964, The New York Times reported that almost 30 years after H.L. Hunt founded the Hunt Oil Company, his family had an estimated fortune of $700 million (about $7.5 billion in today’s money, adjusted for inflation).

At the time of the report, the company was producing oil and natural gas in 12 states, including Texas, Louisiana, and North Dakota.

Hunt founded Facts Forum News, his publication for producing conservative, anti-Communist radio and television programs, from 1951 to 1963, per the University of Houston.

His fortune, which would be worth roughly $13 billion to $20 billion today after adjusting for inflation, was placed into trusts for his 15 children, whom he had with three different women.

Forbes reported that Ray Lee Hunt, 83, has a net worth of $6.6 billion, as of July 2026.

He is chairman emeritus of Hunt Consolidated, Inc., which includes Hunt Oil Company, Hunt Energy, and Hunt Realty Investments.

Rosewood Hotels & Resorts was sold to New World Hospitality (now known as Rosewood Hotel Group) in 2011 for $229.5 million, according to an announcement published in PR Newswire.

Caroline Rose Hunt died in 2018 at age 95, AP News reported.

Before his death in April 2024, William Herbert Hunt served as an advisor to management at Petro-Hunt.

Per the company website, his family continues to own and operate Petro-Hunt, which, in addition to its focus on oil and gas, also purchases minerals and royalties, invests in real estate, and partially owns an oil refinery.

Lamar Hunt founded the American Football League (AFL) in 1959 to rival the National Football League (NFL) after being refused access to buy a franchise. Since the AFL and NFL officially merged in 1970, the Lamar Hunt Trophy has been awarded to the winner of the AFC Championship.

Lamar also founded the Kansas City Chiefs (originally known as the Dallas Texans), which the family still owns today, and is credited with coining the term “Super Bowl.”

Norma Hunt died in 2023 at the age of 85, leaving siblings Clark Hunt, Sharron Hunt Munson, Lamar Hunt Jr., and Daniel Hunt as co-owners of the team.

Hunt took over as CEO in 2010 and hired Andy Reid as head coach in 2013. Since then, the Chiefs have created a winning dynasty with three Super Bowl wins in five seasons.

In addition to being chairman and CEO of the Chiefs, Clark Hunt is also chairman and CEO of FC Dallas, while his brother, Daniel Hunt, is the club’s president.

The family’s involvement with the team was actually decades in the making. Lamar Hunt founded the Dallas Tornado soccer club in 1967 and helped establish the North American Soccer League before becoming a charter investor in Major League Soccer (MLS) in 1996.

In 1999, Lamar Hunt funded the first stadium in the US dedicated solely to soccer, Columbus Crew Stadium. That same year, he was awarded the National Soccer Hall of Fame Medal of Honor, and the US Open Cup Tournament was renamed for him.

The family took over the MLS club Dallas Burn in 2003, which was relaunched as FC Dallas two years later.

According to the company’s website, Hunt Midwest is “a Kansas City-based real estate development company with more than $3 billion of developed projects nationwide,” including senior living communities and residential, multifamily, and industry-focused locations like SubTropolis.

The couple married in 1993 and have three children together: Gracie, Ava, and Knobel.

Shackles Hunt is from Kansas City, Missouri, and was involved in beauty pageants, winning Miss Missouri Teen USA, Miss Kansas USA, and finishing second runner-up at the Miss USA pageant, People magazine reported.

She has also worked as director of the Chiefs Women’s Organization.

“I love being a leader of it and organizing events to familiarize our extended football family with Kansas City and plug them into serving the community,” she told Her Life Magazine in 2018.

“It bonds us together on the field and off the field to gather to serve the community and enjoy fellowship together,” she added.

Gracie Hunt, 27, grew up playing soccer but was forced to stop after suffering four concussions. She then pivoted to beauty pageants, winning Miss Texas Teen International in 2016, Miss Texas International in 2018, and Miss Kansas USA in 2021.

Now, Hunt works in public relations for the Chiefs while also taking on projects of her own, including a capsule collection with Wear by Erin Andrews, which she’s shared online with her 584,000 Instagram followers.

Hunt told People magazine in January 2025, “Coming out with a capsule collection with Erin was a way for me to create something that is my own.”

She is also a philanthropist, having founded Breaking Barriers Through Sports in 2016. According to her website, the organization “aims to give people a positive identity and confidence through athletics and living a healthy lifestyle.”

In April, she announced her engagement to Derek Green, the son of former Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Trent Green.

In May 2024, Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker delivered a commencement speech at Benedictine College, a small private Catholic liberal arts college in Atchison, Kansas.

In his address, Butker told women in the audience they’d been told “the most diabolical lies” about the value in pursuing a career. He also told men to be “unapologetic” in their masculinity and fight “the cultural emasculation of men.”

His words drew backlash, including from the sisters of Mount St. Scholastica, nuns affiliated with the college. They wrote in a statement on their website that his words “seem to have fostered division.”

However, both Tavia and Gracie appeared to support Butker in their respective social media posts and TV appearances.

Nearly a week after Butker’s address, Tavia Hunt shared photos of her and her daughters on Instagram, along with a diagram outlining the pros and cons of stay-at-home parenting and a screenshot of an article on the happiness of married couples.

In the lengthy caption, Shackles Hunt wrote that she’s always encouraged her daughters to be educated and “chase their dreams,” but said she also wants them to know that finding a spouse and raising a family “is one of the greatest blessings this world has to offer.”

“Affirming motherhood and praising your wife, as well as highlighting the sacrifice and dedication it takes to be a mother, is not bigoted,” she added. “Someone disagreeing with you doesn’t make them hateful; it simply means they have a different opinion.”

Given the post’s themes of motherhood and faith, fans were quick to connect Shackles Hunt’s words to those of Harrison Butker, who, in his commencement address, spoke about his wife, Isabelle, and how she embraced “one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.”

Meanwhile, Gracie Hunt was asked about Butker’s speech on a May 2024 episode of “Fox & Friends.”

“I really respect Harrison and his Christian faith and what he’s accomplished on and off the field,” she said. Hunt also praised her mother’s ability to stay home with her and her siblings while they were growing up, but added that “there are many women out there who can’t make that decision.”

Per Forbes, the Hunts are the 15th-richest family in the US, behind other family dynasties like the Walton family, Mars family, and Cathy family.