Jim Irsay

James Irsay (June 13, 1959 – May 21, 2025) was an American billionaire businessman who was the principal owner, chairman, and CEO of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL) from 1997 until his death in 2025, having previously served as general manager of the Colts from 1984 to 1996. At the time of his death, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$4.8 billion. He was the surviving child of businessman Robert Irsay (1923–1997), who acquired the Baltimore Colts in 1972 for $12 million and moved them to Indianapolis in 1984.

Early life and education

Irsay was born on June 13, 1959, in Lincolnwood, Illinois, the son of Harriet (née Pogorzelski) and Chicago businessman Robert Irsay. His father was from a Hungarian Jewish family, and his mother was the daughter of Polish Catholic immigrants. Irsay was raised Catholic and did not know about his father's Jewish heritage until he was fourteen. Jim's brother, Thomas Irsay, was born with a mental disability and died in 1999, and his sister, Roberta, died in a car accident in 1971.

Irsay's father, Robert Irsay, built a fortune estimated to be over $150 million as a successful heating and air-conditioning contractor.

Irsay attended high school at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb just north of Chicago; and at Mercersburg Academy, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1978. After high school, he attended, and graduated from, Southern Methodist University in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcast journalism. Irsay played linebacker for the SMU Mustangs football team as a walk-on, but an ankle injury ended his playing career.

Irsay boxed, played golf, and lifted weights in his younger years.