Clark Hunt
Born	February 19, 1965 (1965-02-19) (age 44) Dallas, Texas
Occupation	Businessman and sports-team owner
Spouse(s)	Tavia Shackles
Children	3

Clark Knobel Hunt (born February 19, 1965) is Chairman of the Board of the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs and a founding investor-owner in Major League Soccer. Hunt inherited ownership of Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew and FC Dallas in 2006.

He is the son of Lamar Hunt and the grandson of oil tycoon H.L. Hunt. Following the death of his father in 2006, Clark, his sister, and two brothers inherited ownership of the Chiefs. Clark serves as the ultimate authority as Chairman of the Board.^[1][2]

[edit] Background

After graduating from St. Mark's School of Texas, he went on to finish first in his class at Southern Methodist University, where he was a captain of SMU's nationally-ranked soccer team and a two-time Academic All-American. He also received a Masters of Business Administration from SMU.

In addition to his activities within his family's football and soccer franchises, Hunt is Chief Executive Officer of Shoreline Management Group, an investment company. He began his business career as an analyst with Goldman Sachs before starting the firm. Hunt is on the Board at both St. Mark's and the SMU Cox School of Business. He is married to Tavia Shackles, a former Miss Missouri Teen USA and Miss Kansas USA. The couple have three children.

[edit] Involvement in professional sports

One of the driving forces behind the creation of Major League Soccer, Hunt helped his father run the Kansas City Wizards until the team was sold in 2006. Hunt remains a member of the league's Board of Governors and owns the MLS clubs FC Dallas and the Columbus Crew.

[edit] Kansas City Chiefs

Following the death of his father, Clark became chairman of the board.^[1]

After the Chiefs' loss to the New York Jets in the 2007 season finale, Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson announced that both he and head coach Herm Edwards would return to the Chiefs in 2008.^[3] However, Hunt declined to immediately comment on Peterson's status.^[3] Hunt spoke out weeks later and stated that the Chiefs were his "No. 1 priority"^[4] and that "to have the best chance of success in 2008, having Carl here makes a lot of sense.”^[5] Hunt wanted to avoid having a new general manager come in with a new head coach, and starting from scratch again.^[5]

On December 15, Hunt announced the resignation of Carl Peterson from his positions as general manager, vice president, and CEO of the franchise effective the end of the season.^[1][6] Prior the decision, the Chiefs had a combined record of 9-24 under Hunt's leadership since December 23, 2006.

The official press release stated that Peterson resigned, but Hunt had said the conversation had been on-going throughout the season.^[1][6] Hunt said his decision to relieve Peterson of duties was not based on what happened the previous day, when the Chiefs lost an 11-point lead in the final 73 seconds and were beaten 22–21 by San Diego, dropping their record to 2-12 on the season.^[1] Hunt also said that the fate of head coach Herm Edwards would be settled after the season when a new general manager would be hired.^[1][6] Hunt said he would split the duties previously held by Peterson and have someone in charge of the business side and someone else in charge of football for the franchise.^[1]

Hunt had kept his search for a new general manager almost entirely leak-proof, instructing subordinates that only he is to speak to the situation.^[7] On January 13, 2009 Hunt hired New England Patriots vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli as the new Chiefs general manager. On January 23 the Chiefs fired head coach Herman Edwards,^[8] and Todd Haley was hired as his replacement on February 6.^[2]

[edit] Columbus Crew

Under Hunt, the Columbus Crew won their first MLS Cup championship on November 23, 2008.

[edit] West Ham United FC

Hunt has been linked to the £120M purchase of West Ham United FC on August 06, 2009.^[9]

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Associated Press (2008-12-15). "Chiefs' Carl Peterson resigns; Edwards' future uncertain". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/chiefs/2008-12-15-peterson-out_N.htm?csp=34. Retrieved 2008-12-15. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Associated Press (2009-02-06). "Chiefs hire Cardinals offensive coordinator Haley as coach". http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d80e9b58a&template=without-video-with-comments&confirm=true. Retrieved 2009-02-06. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Associated Press (2007-12-31). "Peterson says he won't leave Chiefs 'before the job is finished'". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3174855. Retrieved 2008-12-15. 
4. ^ Associated Press (2008-01-17). "Hunt expects Chiefs to challenge for playoffs in 2008". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3201970. Retrieved 2008-12-15. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Whitlock, Jason (2008-01-07). "Clark Hunt evaluates Herm, weakens Peterson". Kansas City Star. http://www.kansascity.com/sports/columnists/jason_whitlock/story/449861.html. Retrieved 2008-12-15. 
6. ^ ^{a b c} "Chairman of the Board Clark Hunt Press Conference on the resignation of Carl Peterson". Kansas City Chiefs. 2008-12-15. http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2008/12/15/chairman_of_the_board_clark_hunt_pc/. Retrieved 2008-12-15. 
7. ^ Associated Press (2009-01-05). "Chiefs talking with Pioli about GM vacancy". SI.com. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/01/05/chiefs.ap/index.html. Retrieved 2009-01-05. 
8. ^ "Herm Edwards relieved of duties as Chiefs head coach". Kansas City Chiefs. 2009-01-23. http://kcchiefs.com/news/2009/01/23/herm_edwards_relieved_of_duties_as_chiefs_head_coach/. Retrieved 2009-01-23. 
9. ^ Associated Press (2009-08-06). "US tycoon could buy West Ham". The Sun Newspaper. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2573708/US-tycoon-could-buy-West-Ham.html. Retrieved 2009-08-06. 

[edit] Sources

• Kansas City Chiefs Bio
• Part one of article on Clark
• Part two of article on Clark