Condoleezza Rice Joins Mellody Hobson As The Second Black Woman Added To The Denver Broncos' Ownership Group

The Denver Post reports that Condoleezza Rice has joined the Walton-Penner Ownership Group as a minority owner.

Led by Walmart heir Rob Walton, the former U.S. Secretary of State officially joined the group on July 11. 

“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, according to the outlet. “Her unique experience and extraordinary judgement will be a great benefit to our group and the Broncos organization.”

Per the outlet, Rice was previously a professor at Stanford University from 1981 to 1987 and is currently the director of its Hoover Institution. Walton’s son-in-law and daughter Greg and Carrie Penner, members of the group, earned graduate degrees from the university.

The announcement makes Rice the second Black woman to join the group. Mellody Hobson became the first, joining a small group of Black women who have an equity stake in a National Football League (NFL) team — as previously shared by AfroTech.

“Today marks a significant step on the path of an exciting new chapter in Broncos history,” said the team’s CEO, Joe Ellis, in an official statement of the news, at the time.

The percentage of what Hobson would own is still pending but is expected to be very fruitful. The sale agreement stood at $4.65 billion, breaking a record as one of the highest prices paid for a North American sports franchise.

The 53-year-old is known as one of the most powerful executives in the nation as the co-lead of Ariel Investments, the chair of the Starbucks Corporation Board of Directors, and board member at financial services giant JP Morgan Chase.