Philip Anschutz: The Billionaire Who Owns the LA Kings, Coachella and Almost Nothing With His Name On It

It is said that Philip Anschutz holds the record for conducting only two press conferences in his lifetime. He has ownership in the Los Angeles Kings, the LA Galaxy, Coachella, the Broadmoor hotel, a newspaper in Washington, and over 100 other companies, but almost none of them bear his name. 

Philip Anschutz is one of the two Americans who have made it into every billionaire list in every year starting from 1982 till date. Here’s the empire, the wealth, and the mystery behind the amount of his money.

Philip Anschutz at a Glance:

Holdings, career record and wealth estimates in one place, with each figure sourced and dated.

Full name	Philip Frederick Anschutz
Date of birth	28 December 1939
Age	86, turning 87 in December 2026
Birthplace	Russell, Kansas, United States
Nationality	American
Base	Denver, Colorado
Net worth	Estimates for 2026 range from roughly 17 billion to 25 billion dollars. See the explanation below
Bloomberg estimate	Around 24.8 billion dollars in early 2026
Forbes estimate	Around 19.4 billion dollars in early 2026, with lower figures reported later in the year
Why the gap	His holdings are almost entirely private, so every figure is an appraisal rather than a calculation
Longevity	One of only two Americans to have appeared on billionaire lists every year since 1982, alongside William Herbert Hunt
Father	Frederick Anschutz, an oil wildcatter
Education	University of Kansas, finance degree, 1961
Holding company	The Anschutz Corporation, private, Denver-based, controlling well over 100 businesses
Main subsidiary	Anschutz Entertainment Group, founded 1994
NHL team	Los Angeles Kings, acquired 1995
Kings championships	Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014, the first two in franchise history
Arena	Crypto.com Arena, formerly Staples Center, opened 1999. AEG holds the majority stake
Development	L.A. Live, a 27-acre entertainment district next to the arena
Music business	AEG Presents, among the largest concert promoters in the world. Its Goldenvoice division runs Coachella and Stagecoach
Soccer	LA Galaxy owner. Previously held the Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids, San Jose Earthquakes, DC United and others, and is credited with keeping MLS alive in its early years
Lakers stake	Sold his 27 percent share in 2021 to Mark Walter and Todd Boehly, reported at around 1.35 billion dollars
Earlier ventures	Oil and gas, then railroads including Southern Pacific and Denver and Rio Grande Western, then Qwest Communications, built on fibre laid along rail rights of way
Media	Clarity Media Group, publisher of the Washington Examiner and the Colorado Springs Gazette
Film	Walden Media, producer of The Chronicles of Narnia films, Holes and Bridge to Terabithia
Hospitality	The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, and Xanterra, the largest national park concessions operator in the United States
Art	Holds one of the most valuable private collections of American Western art
Public appearances	Reported to have given only two press conferences in his career
Political giving	A long-standing Republican donor. He and his wife gave over a million dollars in the 2016 cycle
Philanthropy	The Anschutz Foundation, focused on economically disadvantaged people, children and youth, seniors and the disabled

Why Nobody Agrees on His Net Worth:

In early 2026, Bloomberg estimated Anschutz to be worth around 24.8 billion dollars, whereas Forbes estimated him to be worth 19.4 billion dollars. This means that there is a difference of more than five billion dollars between two of the most diligent trackers in the business, but this discrepancy is certainly not their fault.

It stems from the structure. Practically all of the properties owned by Anschutz are held within The Anschutz Corporation, which is privately-held. There is nothing to multiply, no filings to read, no market to compare with. All valuations made by various publications are just assessments of over one hundred privately-held companies.

Bloomberg calculated the value of his biggest asset, AEG, through comparing it with the market capitalizations of Madison Square Garden Entertainment and Madison Square Garden Sports, which are considered the most similar publicly-traded companies. It is a sensible approach, and another analyst using other comparable would give another estimate. The old figures still used and widely circulated, including the oft-cited 13 billion dollar valuation, are plain outdated. The truth of the matter in 2026 is that the value of the billionaire falls into the 17 to 25 billion dollar range, and any precise number is a guess.

Early Life and the Oil Business:

Philip Frederick Anschutz was born on December 28, 1939, in Russell, Kansas. His paternal grandfather hailed from Eastern Europe. Philip’s father Fred was a wildcatter, who drilled for oil in places where the prospects seemed favorable, and hence, the family kept moving according to his work schedule.

He pursued a degree in finance from the University of Kansas, graduating in 1961. He intended to pursue law but due to his father’s illness, he joined his father’s business of drilling for oil.

The move that made him happen due to oil in Utah, which he subsequently sold half of the stake to Mobil. This was typical of the strategy that he used all his life, namely acquiring an unspectacular asset that no one has thought much of, then waiting for its true worth to be discovered.

Railroads and the Fibre Trick:

Anschutz bought the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway in the 1980s and soon went on to buy the Southern Pacific railway and merged his company into the Union Pacific in 1996.

The really smart move was when he figured out how to use all that land. Railroad companies have a right of way running from one end of the country to the other, and Anschutz laid fibre optic cable down them to form his new company Qwest Communications. The man had in effect bought a telecommunications route through a railway purchase, and there is nothing that better demonstrates his thinking.

AEG and the Los Angeles Kings:

The Anschutz Entertainment Group was started by Anschutz in 1994 while the Los Angeles Kings were purchased in 1995. Both the actions formed part of one strategy and not two.

The Kings offered him a tenant. The move necessitated construction of Staples Center, currently Crypto.com Arena, which opened in 1999 with AEG being the majority owner. This stadium in its turn required development of L.A. Live, which was a 27-acre entertainment complex built around it. Each investment made the next one feasible and a failing hockey team became the basis for redevelopment of Downtown LA.

The hockey was quite successful as well. The Kings managed to win the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014; these became the first Stanley Cups of the franchise, which history began in 1967.

Today AEG owns or operates 12 stadiums across the globe and operates AEG Presents, one of the biggest concert promoters in the world. AEG Presents Goldenvoice division organized and runs Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals, which is how a Denver-based oil and railroad tycoon ends up discussing music festivals.

The 2012 Sale That Never Happened:

Anschutz listed AEG for sale in September 2012 at about ten billion dollars. Potential buyers such as Larry Ellison were said to be hovering around it. He took it off the market in March 2013.

This action became one of his two press conferences in his career. The second was when he acquired Southern Pacific. It is fair enough to describe the man in terms of the fact that his two press conferences were all about buying and not selling something.

Major League Soccer:

The historical importance of Anschutz’s involvement with MLS cannot be understated and is not often recognized properly. At different times during the fragile beginnings of MLS, he had ownership of multiple clubs at one time, such as the Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids, San Jose Earthquakes, DC United, and LA Galaxy, due to the fact that there weren’t enough owners willing to keep MLS alive. It is believed that he single-handedly kept MLS alive during this period.

The Rest of the Empire:

Apart from sports teams and music festivals, The Anschutz Corporation also owns Clarity Media Group, which operates the newspapers Washington Examiner and Colorado Springs Gazette. The corporation also owns Walden Media, which makes films like The Chronicles of Narnia, Holes, and Bridge to Terabithia.

The Broadmoor hotel in Colorado Springs is owned by him and has undergone huge investments for its restoration. Xanterra, which runs the concessions and lodges in America’s national parks, is another venture of his. In 2021, he reportedly sold his 27 percent share in Los Angeles Lakers for about 1.35 billion dollars to Mark Walter and Todd Boehly.

Political Donations and the Coachella Controversy:

This is the most disputed issue about his image and deserves an unbiased explanation.

Anschutz is a long-time supporter of Republicans. He and his wife have given more than a million dollars in donations in the 2016 election period. Moreover, he is known to give donations to Republican candidates and committees on a regular basis.

In January 2017, after reports in the Washington Post, it became known that the Anschutz Foundation had donated to the Alliance Defending Freedom, Family Research Council, and the National Christian Foundation – organisations that oppose LGBTQ legal protection. Since AEG owns Coachella, this report quickly went around and resulted in campaigns against it.

Anschutz responded with a statement saying that labelling him as anti-LGBTQ is false. In this statement, he stated that he supports the rights of everyone without regard to their sexual orientation, that his companies are strictly against discrimination, and that he or the foundation have never funded any organisation for the aim of implementing anti-LGBTQ initiatives. Moreover, he claimed that if any of those funds were identified as being used to such ends, those contributions would be immediately withdrawn.

Some advocacy groups including ProgressNow Colorado and Freedom for All Americans welcomed this change at the time as an improvement. In 2020, however, according to further investigations reported by Billboard based on the latest filings by the foundation, it became clear that the foundation had withdrawn its donations from those three initial organisations; nevertheless, it has donated to some other organisations whose representatives were vocal about their anti-LGBTQ positions. According to the foundation’s explanation given to Billboard, only five percent of its average annual donations were provided to conservative or faith-based organisations; the major target of their work are economically disadvantaged individuals, children, youth, senior citizens, and people with disabilities. Those are the facts about each side of the dispute. Readers may evaluate them themselves.

Final Take:

Philip Anschutz purchased a railroad and used it to construct a telephone system. He bought an unsuccessful hockey team and used it to create a neighborhood in Los Angeles. He is 86 years old and has conducted two press conferences, and he is in control of what is considered one of the biggest privately-owned portfolios of companies in America. For those who have come from a search for hockey-related content, the important concept to grasp is that the Kings were more than just a hockey investment.

Frequently Asked Questions:

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