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Philip F. Anschutz is one of the wealthiest businessmen in Colorado. As of early 2026, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimates his net worth at roughly $24.8 billion, while Forbes puts it at $19.4 billion. Either way, that’s a lot of dough, and with it comes a lot of properties and businesss.
Anschutz keeps a low profile and isn’t prone to slapping his name and face on each of his holdings, unlike some of the ultra-wealthy, including our own president. (In fact, colleagues described him as the “anti-Trump” in years past.) You may recognize his name from the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus, renamed in honor of his considerable philanthropy in 2006, but his business interests have almost certainly been part of your life.
Born in 1939 in Russell, Kansas, Anschutz built his initial fortune in oil and gas. After following his father into the energy business, he spent years acquiring drilling rights and mineral leases across the Rocky Mountain West. His defining financial moment came in the 1970s, when he secured major positions in Wyoming oil fields that later proved highly productive. In the early 1980s, he sold a significant portion of those holdings, locking in his first billion.
That capital became the foundation for a business empire that expanded steadily beyond energy.
Most of Anschutz’s holdings are through The Anschutz Corporation, a privately held Denver-based company that serves as the umbrella for his financial interests. Through it, Anschutz has moved into railroads, telecommunications, entertainment, sports, hospitality (the Broadmoor resort, for one), publishing (including both Gazette newspapers in Denver and Colorado Springs), and real estate.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Anschutz acquired and consolidated railroads, including short-line and regional systems. These rail corridors later proved valuable for telecommunications infrastructure, enabling the development of fiber-optic networks and contributing to the rise of Anschutz’s Qwest Communications (Qwest merged with CenturyLink in 2011).
However, entertainment has become the most visible parts of the Anschutz portfolio, and it still is.
Sports, Concerts and Movies
Anschutz played a central role in building Regal Entertainment Group, consolidating several bankrupt cinema chains into what became one of the largest movie theatre operators in the U.S. Anschutz sold Regal in a multi-billion dollar deal completed in 2018 — just in time, before the pandemic.
Through Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), Anschutz controls one of the world’s largest live entertainment companies. If you’re a music fan in Denver, you know AEG, which owns the Mission Ballroom, Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre, the pop-up Project 70 venue underneath an interstate overpass and the Gothic, Ogden and Bluebird theaters.
AEG’s interests go far beyond Denver, though. The company’s concert promotion arm, AEG Presents, produces the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals, and a couple dozen others. AEG also owns and operates Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, home of the L.A. Lakers, and operates London’s O2 Arena.
AEG is also a major force in professional sports: Anschutz is the principal owner of the NHL’s L.A. Kings, which won Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014. He also owns the L.A. Galaxy, one of Major League Soccer’s flagship teams. Anschutz was a founding investor in MLS, co-founding a number of other teams including the Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids, Houston Dynamo, San Jose Earthquakes and the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, although he no longer owns interests in these teams.
Film production is another branch of his entertainment interests. Anschutz-backed companies, including Walden Media and Bristol Bay Productions, have produced mainstream and family-oriented films, including adaptations of The Chronicles of Narnia book series.
Hotels, Newspapers and Oil
Hospitality is another major pillar of the Anschutz empire. Through Xanterra Travel Collection, his companies operate hotels, lodges, and concession services in some of the country’s most visited national parks, including Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and Death Valley. Xanterra also operates the Grand Canyon Railway, which transports tourists from Williams, Arizona, to the South Rim of the canyon.
Anschutz also controls luxury resort properties through The Broadmoor-Sea Island Company, including the aforementioned Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, which he purchased in 2011, and the Sea Island resort in Georgia. Both hotels are five-star resorts.
In media, Anschutz owns a significant newspaper portfolio through Clarity Media Group, including the Denver Gazette, a daily newspaper launched in 2020, as well as Colorado Politics, the Colorado Springs Gazette, and the Washington Examiner. Anschutz’s media holdings generally take conservative editorial positions, though Anschutz himself doesn’t pen the editorials.
Energy remains part of Anschutz’s portfolio; Anschutz Exploration continues to manage oil and gas interests, mineral rights, and development projects.
…and the Rest?
There’s doubtless more to Anschutz’s massive empire, as he operates it through private companies with limited public insight. He has a considerable philanthropic operation, as well — with well over $2 billion dontated since 1984, according to a 2018 Chronicle of Philanthropy article. But even though you’ll seldom hear his name, this quiet Colorado billionaire has a broad footprint in Colorado and far beyond.
