Jerry Jones

Jones was born on October 13, 1942, in Los Angeles, California, to John "Pat" and Arminta Jones. The family moved back to North Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1945. His parents owned two branches of Pat's Super Market in the Rose City neighborhood of North Little Rock. Jones was a running back at North Little Rock High School, graduating in 1960.

After his graduation, Jones' parents moved to Springfield, Missouri, where Pat was president and chairman of Modern Security Life Insurance Co. The company, which an advertisement billed as a "one in a million" company, saw its assets increase from $440,299.76 in its first statement in 1961 to $6,230,607 in 1965 ($4,643,041.96 to $62,365,606.91 in 2024). After graduating from the University of Arkansas, Jerral W. Jones was listed as an executive vice president. With the success of the company, the Joneses assembled the 5,500-acre (2,200 ha) Buena Vista Ranch east of Springfield in Rogersville, Missouri, in the Ozark Mountains. In 1971, after selling the insurance company, the couple carved out 400 acres (160 ha) of their ranch to start Buena Vista Animal Paradise, where tourists could visit exotic animals (now Wild Animal Safari in Strafford, Missouri).

College football career

Jones attended the University of Arkansas, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity. He was co-captain of Arkansas' 1964 national championship football team. He was an offensive lineman for College Football Hall of Fame coach Frank Broyles and a teammate of college football and NFL coach Jimmy Johnson, whom Jones hired as his first head coach after purchasing the Cowboys.

Other notable teammates were Glen Ray Hines, a consensus All-American offensive tackle; Ken Hatfield, who went on to coach several major programs including Arkansas; Jim Lindsey; future Outland Trophy winner Loyd Phillips; and College Football Hall of Fame linebacker Ronnie Caveness. Several future head coaches were assistant coaches for Broyles on the Razorbacks' staff during Jones' college career in Fayetteville, including three more members of the College Football Hall of Fame: Hayden Fry (Southern Methodist University, North Texas State University, and the University of Iowa); Johnny Majors (Iowa State University, University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Tennessee), and Barry Switzer (University of Oklahoma, and later head coach of the Cowboys under Jones).

According to an interview with Jones on HBO, after graduating from college in 1965, he borrowed a million dollars from Jimmy Hoffa's Teamsters union to open up a string of Shakey's Pizza Parlor restaurants in Missouri. When that venture failed, Jones was given a job at his father's insurance company, Modern Security Life of Springfield, Missouri. He received his master's degree in business in 1970. After several other unsuccessful business ventures (including an attempt, again using Teamsters money, to purchase the American Football League's San Diego Chargers in 1966), he began an oil and gas exploration business in Arkansas, Jones Oil and Land Lease, which became successful. His privately held company currently does natural resource prospecting.

In 2008, Jones formed a partnership with Yankee Global Enterprises to create Legends Hospitality, a food, beverage, merchandise, retail, and stadium operations corporation serving entertainment venues.

Jones married Eugenia Chambers in 1963, whom he met while both were college undergraduates. They have three children. Stephen is the Cowboys' chief operating officer, executive vice president, and director of player personnel. Charlotte is the Cowboys' executive vice president and chief brand officer. Jerry Jones Jr. is the Cowboys' chief sales and marketing officer/vice president. Jones splits his time between a home in Highland Park, Texas and a home in Destin, Florida.

Jones was close friends and neighbors with Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt. The two lived in an upscale neighborhood in Dallas. Since 1998, their teams have played for the Preston Road Trophy, which was commissioned by Hunt to add a competitive nature to their friendship. When the trophy changed hands, Hunt and Jones usually played pranks on the other.

Jones revealed in July 2015 at a press conference before Cowboys training camp that he had undergone hip replacement surgery, joking that he would not start the season on the PUP list.

As of November 2024, Jones' net worth is reported by Forbes to be $16.1 billion, the majority of which can be accounted for as being his ownership stake in the Cowboys who are currently valued by the same publication to be the world's most valuable sports team at $10.1 billion.

In March 2022, Jones was served with legal action by a 25-year-old woman who claimed that he is her biological father. The woman is the daughter of a former airline employee that Jones met in Little Rock, Arkansas. Jones has paid nearly $3 million to the woman and her mother, which included the woman's full tuition at Southern Methodist University and a $70,000 Range Rover on her 16th birthday. Requests for money and other expenses exceeded the amount that Jones agreed to pay in the trust agreement between the parties by nearly $1 million over the years, including $33,000 for a "Sweet 16" birthday party, which was featured on the reality TV show Big Rich Texas. On February 29, 2024, a court decision required Jones to undergo a paternity test concerning the woman's claim. Concurrently, Jones filed a counter lawsuit for a breach of the original settlement agreement executed nearly two years after woman was born which included "If Mother or Child, or any person on behalf of Child, brings or commences any kind of legal proceeding seeking to establish the paternity of Child..., Putative Father may, in his sole discretion, elect to terminate the Agreement and the Funding Trust and the Distribution Trust, or either of them, and enforce any and all remedies available to him at law or in equity. A breach of this provision shall be considered a breach of the entire Agreement." During the trial in the countersuit, the trial abruptly ended as "Jones agreed to drop the countersuit if the women dismissed pending lawsuits against him, including one where the billionaire was ordered to take a DNA test".

In November 2022, a 1957 photo surfaced depicting a 14-year-old Jones witnessing White students attempting to prevent six African-American students from entering North Little Rock High School in Arkansas. North Little Rock was beginning to integrate in 1957. Despite the school's head football coach ordering the team (which Jones was a part of) to stay away from such scenes, Jones said he was there as a curious bystander. Jones also stated: "I don't know that I or anybody anticipated or had a background of knowing what was involved. It was more a curious thing." Jones has expressed regret in not doing more to help the Black students feel more accepted at Little Rock.

In 2025, Jones donated $1 million to MAGA Inc., a super PAC that supports Donald Trump.

In August 2025, Jones revealed that he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in 2010.

Criticism

Despite success in the early years of his ownership of the Cowboys, the decades of mediocrity that have followed, as well as his hands-on approach including disputes with African-American players over money and social issues, have made him one of the most disliked NFL owners. In an online poll from October 8, 2003, Jones was named the least-favorite sports personality by Sports Illustrated, in three states (Virginia, Delaware, and Texas).

Jones is often vilified by fans who remain bitter at his unceremonious firings of longtime Cowboys personnel who were fan favorites, most notably head coach Tom Landry and personnel chief Gil Brandt, even though the Cowboys had done poorly the last few seasons before Jones became owner. Jones stated he did not give consideration to retaining Landry for even a season, as he said he would not have purchased the team unless he could hire Johnson as coach. Jones did not discuss the matter with Landry before announcing the decision. This was denounced by football fans and media as lacking class and respect. The Cowboys had long emphasized pride and tradition, and great performance and loyal service were expected to be rewarded. Since the dismissal, Jones indicated that he regrets the process of Landry's firing and his role in it. It later emerged that Jones' predecessor, Bright, had been dissatisfied with Landry for years and offered to relieve Jones of the inevitable criticism by dismissing the longtime coach himself prior to selling the team. Bright had wanted to fire Landry as early as 1987, only to have general manager Tex Schramm tell him that there wasn't a suitable replacement available.

Some of the fan criticism is due to Jones' high visibility and involvement as the "face of the team", a contrast to both Bright and the Cowboys' original owner Clint Murchison Jr. Jones's prominent role has led to fans expressing displeasure with Jones and the lack of success of the franchise, with particular criticism of Jones serving as his own general manager. There was particular criticism of Jones over his conflict with head coach Jimmy Johnson, as Jones "wanted Cowboys fans to know he had helped build those Super Bowl-winning teams", while "Johnson insisted that he made all of the personnel moves" because he had the final say in football matters and refused to relinquish this power. Consequently, Jones fired Johnson after the 1993 season despite coming off of two consecutive Super Bowl wins, and refused to induct Johnson into the Cowboys Ring of Honor for 30 years until December 30, 2023, after Johnson was inducted the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020. Jones also initially promised Bill Parcells, the Cowboys' head coach from 2003 through 2006, complete control over football matters; however, their relationship broke down after Jones signed controversial wide receiver Terrell Owens. Parcells' successor, Wade Phillips, complained to friends about being "undermined and second-guessed, repeatedly" by Jones.

Jones and Mike Brown of the Cincinnati Bengals are the only two active NFL owners who have the title or powers of general manager. Jones stated that working as his own general manager helps streamline decision-making and communication lines with the coaching staff. Over Jones' tenure, Cowboys fans have organized a number of grassroots efforts to displace Jones from his position.

Jones is the subject of the 2008 book Playing to Win by David Magee. In the book, Jones admitted he handled the firing of Landry poorly and accepted some blame for the disintegration of his relationship with Landry's successor, Jimmy Johnson.

Jones became involved in the St. Louis Rams move back to Los Angeles with Rams owner Stan Kroenke in 2016. He was instrumental in brokering a deal between Kroenke, San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos, and Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis to ensure that Kroenke's SoFi Stadium plan passed, which it did via a 30–2 owners' vote in favor. Jones' support and role in the negotiations were criticized by some fans and sports media in St. Louis. Jones was also a key proponent of the Oakland Raiders' move to Las Vegas to play at Allegiant Stadium.

In February 2021, the Great Texas Freeze caused the Texas power grid to fail and energy prices to surge due to deregulation. Official sources place the death toll at 246, while estimates range to over 700 that people may have died due to the weather and grid issues. Jones and his company Comstock Resources Inc. received criticism for raising prices over 70x the normal rates for natural gas and celebrating huge profits from the storm.