Jahm Najafi Net Worth: How Rich is the Businessman Actually?

Jahm Najafi is an Iranian-American businessman who runs a private-equity firm, Najafi Companies. He is also a partial owner and vice chairman of the Phoenix Suns NBA team. Najafi called for Phoenix Suns’ majority owner Robert Sarver’s resignation on Thursday night, September 15. As of 2023, Jahm Najafi net worth is roughly around $3.5 billion.

Early Life

Jahm Najafi was born in 1963 in Iran. Not much is unveiled about his upbringing, early life, and parents. Jahm has a brother, Francis Najafi with whom he ran a parent company, The Pivotal Group. The Najafi brothers purchased many commercial properties including the Century Plaza Hotel, the Harbor Bay, and the 650 California Street building.

For his study, he attended the University of California, Berkeley. Then, he joined Harvard University. He earned a master’s degree in business economics from the University in 1986.

Jahm Najafi Net Worth & How He Made Money?

At the initial stage, he served for a Wall Street firm, Salomon Brothers. Then, he worked as the CEO of Pivotal Private Equity. During that time, he also served as the COO of the parent company, The Pivotal Group. Later, he founded a philanthropic venture capital fund, Social Venture Partners. The capital fund mainly invests in emerging nonprofit organizations. Along with that, he also served on the board of the Arizona State Committee and the Urban Land Institute.

Najafi currently serves as a vice chairman of the Phoenix Suns NBA team. He is the team’s second-largest stakeholder. On September 15, Thursday night, he called on Robert Sarver, the majority owner to resign. Najafi said that there should be zero tolerance for racist conduct in any workplace. Sarver was banned from NBA for a year and was fined $10 million after the NBA released its findings from a ten-month independent investigation into the workplace allegations of abuse during his tenure as a managing partner of the Suns.

Jahm has been critical of the majority owner, Sarver since the abuse allegations were reported for the first time by ESPN in November. He had also released a statement a few hours after ESPN’s investigation was published. Besides being the minority owner of Suns, he is the head of the private equity firm, Najafi Companies, which was established in 2002. The company primarily makes investment in companies that has a transaction value of up to $1 billion.

Najafi became the next vice-chairman of a Formula One constructor, McLaren Racing in December 2020. He invested $20 million in 2003 to purchase Network Solutions from Verisign Inc. through Najafi Cos. Later, the company sold Network Solutions to General Atlantic for $800 million in 2007. Najafi’s company was the highest bidder while they were negotiating to purchase Borders Group from Bankruptcy protection in 2011. Nevertheless, the bid later fell when the Borders Group was liquidated.

In 2013, he and Najafi Cos bid to purchase The Boston Globe. Likewise, the Najafi Company made an investment of $200 million to buy Jeff Berg’s talent agency, Resolution. In 2014, he made an investment of between $75 and $100 million to Paula Deen Ventures to fuel Deen for rebranding after she was fired from the Food Network. Through his company, Najafi has also bid for the ownership of Time Inc. in 2017.

Personal Life

Jahm Najafi is married to Cheryl Najafi. His wife is the former CEO of the lifestyle media company, Everyday Dishes & DIY. Cheryl is also an author who has written two best-selling books about living a good life. As of now, Najafi and his wife share three kids together.

Jahm Najafi Net Worth

Jahm Najafi’s personal wealth is estimated to be around $3.5 billion as of 2023. He has accumulated a vast chunk of money from running a private equity firm, Najafi Companies. In December 2021, Najafi companies announced that they had reached an agreement to acquire STX Entertainment for $173 million.