How Jim Crane Built His Estimated $2.5-Billion Net Worth

Jim Crane is an American businessman from Texas. He's known as the founder of Eagle USA Airfreight and Crane Capital Group. His career has been active since the 1980s.

Crane has also ventured into sports, owning the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball. What’s Crane’s net worth, and how did he make his money?

Crane’s net worth is more than $2.5 billion, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Crane was born on Jan. 17, 1954, in Dellwood, Missouri. He went to Lutheran High School North and graduated in 1972. After completing highschool, he enrolled at Central Missouri State University, where he earned a degree in industrial safety in 1976. Crane shifted to Houston, Texas, in the early 1980s.

Crane started working in the insurance industry as soon as he graduated from highschool. He borrowed $10,000 from his sister in 1984 to start an air freight logistics business, Eagle USA Airfreight, which eventually changed its name to Eagle Global Logistics, and then to EGL Inc. It also moved into the information service and supply chain management businesses. In 1995, Crane took the company public.

By 2007, EGL had $4 billion in sales and more than 400 service centers in over 100 countries. In 2007, EGL merged with CEVA Logistics. Crane wasn’t satisfied with the stock price, so he sold his shares and created another company, Crane Capital Group.

Crane returned to the freight and logistics industry in 2008, establishing Crane Worldwide Logistics (CWW) in Houston, Texas. CWW was founded by former EGL executives, and under Crane's leadership, the company was able to recapitalize and return capital in three years and attain $1 billion in sales in ten years. Crane is also a shareholder in Western Gas Holdings and the director of Champion Energy Holdings and Fort Dearborn Life Insurance.

Crane is also the country's top-ranked CEO golfer. He bought the Floridian in 2010 and transformed it into one of the country’s top golf clubs. He completely redesigned the golf course by world-renowned Tom Fazio. In 2011, Crane paid $680 million for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball. It was the second-highest sum ever spent for a baseball team at the time. The Houston Astros won the World Series for the first time in their history on Nov. 1, 2017.

In 2017, Crane founded Crane Safety, a commercial safety supply and training company, and purchased DAVACO, a company that manages and executes large-scale remodels and technology installations. He also founded Modiant, a software company focused on freight and transportation management, that same year. In 2019, Crane joined forces with winemaker Jesse Katz at Aperture Cellars in Sonoma County.

In his third marriage, Crane married Whitney Wheeler over Memorial Day weekend in 2017. The ceremony was held at the Floridian National Golf Club. Jim and Whitney have a son together.