K.S. "Bud" Adams Jr., owner of the Tennessee Titans and American Football League co-founder, is dead at 90, the NFL confirmed on Monday. Adams' death was first reported by Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle and early indications are that Adams died of natural causes.
Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams dies
Titans owner and co-founder of the AFL Bud Adams has died.
Grant Halverson
More from Music City Miracles: Titans fans react to Adams' passing
Adams served in the Navy during World War II before launching ADA Oil Company after his discharge in 1946. Over a decade later, Adams attempted to purchase an NFL team, but elected to join Lamar Hunt in co-founding the AFL, taking ownership of the newly founded Houston Oilers in 1960.
In 1997, he oversaw the team’s relocation to Tennessee after a lengthy battle with the City of Houston over a stadium for the Oilers. The team’s name was changed to the Titans just a couple years after the relocation in 1999. He also proved instrumental in the founding of both the Houston Mavericks of the American Basketball Association and the Nashville Kats of the Arena Football League.
Adams had previously said that he hopes ownership of the Titans will stay within the family, and that his daughters and the family of his deceased son would be recipients of shares of the team. While neither of his daughters is interested in running the team, it’s his grandson, Kenneth Adams IV, who is considered to be the future of Titans ownership. Kenneth currently works as an administrative assistant in the team’s front office.
By the most recent calculations from Forbes, the Titans are estimated to be worth just over $1 billion and Adams’ net worth was estimated at $1.25 billion.
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