The Broncos on Wednesday finalized a change in their designated controlling owner from Rob Walton to CEO Greg Penner, the team confirmed to The Post.
The move became official Wednesday when the NFL’s finance committee reviewed the details of the change and gave it unanimous support, a league source confirmed.
Nothing about the club’s day-to-day organizational structure or duties changes in making Penner, Walton’s son-in-law, the controlling owner. Penner and Carrie Walton Penner, Rob’s daughter, have had daily operational control of the Broncos since the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group purchased the franchise in August 2022.
“The NFL has approved changes to the ownership structure of the Walton-Penner group aligned with the family’s long-term vision for the Denver Broncos,” the club said in a statement provided to The Post. “These adjustments, which include designating CEO Greg Penner as controlling owner and transferring a portion of Rob Walton’s ownership stake to the Penners’ children, will not impact the ongoing involvement of Greg, Carrie Walton Penner or Rob.”
Though Walton is transferring a stake of his ownership to the Penners’ four children, they are not expected to have any formal role in running the organization now or in the foreseeable future.
According to NFL ownership bylaws, each club must have a designated controlling owner and that person must hold at least a 30% stake in the team. Though the exact stakes in the Walton Penner Family Ownership Group are not known, they have only a small group of limited shareholders and as such the family controls the vast majority of the ownership stake.
Either Walton or the Penners could have been the designated controlling owner from the outset of the purchase, but with Greg Penner and Carrie Walton Penner in day-to-day control of the club, the change in designation brings the franchise’s official structure with the NFL into closer alignment with how the team is run.
The Walton Penner Family Ownership Group purchased the Broncos 14 months ago for $4.65 billion. The limited shareholders include former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Formula 1 star Lewis Hamilton and business executive Mellody Hobson.
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