Milwaukee Bucks owner Herb Kohl is recognized by fans during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks, Wednesday, April 16, 2014, in Milwaukee. Herb Kohl, a former Democratic U.S. senator from Wisconsin and former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team, died, his foundation said in an email Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. He was 88 years old.
Fans applaud Milwaukee Bucks owner Herb Kohl during an NBA basketball game against the, Wednesday, April 16, 2014, in Milwaukee. Herb Kohl, a former Democratic U.S. senator from Wisconsin and former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team, died, his foundation said in an email Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023.
He was 88 years old. In the Senate, a body known for its ego, Kohl was an unusual figure. He was calm and not a credit seeker, but still effective in matters important to the country, especially milk policy.
He was one of the richest members of the Senate and the only owner of a professional sports team in the Senate. Kohl was born in Milwaukee, where he was a childhood friend of Bud Selig.
He became the commissioner of Major League Baseball. They roomed together at the University of Wisconsin and remained friends into adulthood. After earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1956, Kohl earned a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University in 1958 and served in the Army Reserves from 1958 to 1964.
He helped grow the family business, Kohl’s grocery and department stores, and served as the company’s CEO in the 1970s. The company was sold in 1979. Kohl also entered Wisconsin politics in the 1970s, serving as chairman of the state Democratic Party from 1975 to 1977. In 1985, Kohl’s bought the Bucks for $18 million.
“I’m happy, happy, happy”, he said in a press conference. “The Milwaukee Bucks are in Milwaukee and they plan to stay in Milwaukee.” The team was in the midst of a sixth straight winning season when Kohl bought it, and posted winning records in the first six full seasons of Kohl’s ownership before stumbling through most of the 1990s.
The team formed in the late 90s and early 2000s. In 2006, Kohl, owner of the small-market Bucks, was one of eight league owners to ask then-NBA commissioner David Stern to implement revenue sharing.
“His extraordinary commitment to the franchise and the city he loved was never in doubt, and his vision and unparalleled financial contribution to Milwaukee’s new arena will forever be remembered,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.
“My deepest condolences to Senator Kohl’s family, friends and the Bucks organization. He will be greatly missed by his NBA family.
He later sold the team to New York billionaires Wes Edens and Marc Lasry in 2014. He donated $100 million to build a new arena, the Fiserv Forum, to replace the aging Bradley Center, and helped ensure the team remained in Milwaukee.
The arena was opened in 2018. Three years later, Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks past the Phoenix Suns and won the NBA championship, the team’s first since 1971.
“He’s done so many things for the city of Milwaukee, so many things for the Milwaukee Bucks organization,” Antetokounmpo said of Kohli after the Bucks beat the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night.
andquot;He will certainly be missed.” Kohl’s civic responsibilities extended far beyond hosting professional basketball in Wisconsin. He donated $25 million to the University of Wisconsin to finance the construction of the Kohl Center, home of the school’s basketball and hockey teams.
It was the largest private gift in the history of the university. “I was very pleased to help build a great, state-of-the-art sports arena,” Kohl once said. “I think it will enhance the university’s reputation as one of the premier athletic programs in the Big Ten and the nation.”
He also used his funds to fund the Herb Kohl Education Foundation, which donates money to Wisconsin students, teachers and schools for scholarships and grants. In 1988, Kohl decided to run for the Senate after the retirement of Senator William Proxmire, defeating then State Senator Susan Engeleiter, the Republican candidate.
He won re-election in 1994, 2000 and 2006. His considerable wealth helped scare the Republican Party away from a major challenge in 2006. Kohl never approved a raise in the Senate; he took an annual salary of $89,500, the same salary he took when he entered the Senate in 1989, and returned the rest to the Treasury Department.
In the Senate, Kohl dealt with the interests of the home state. He opposed the Northeast Dairy Compact, a program opposed by Midwestern dairy farmers, and helped block its renewal in Congress.
Kohl was instrumental in inventing a replacement program, the milk revenue loss contract, which paid cash to dairy farmers when prices fell below a certain level; the program especially helped Wisconsin dairy farmers.
As the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees the Department of Agriculture’s budget, Kohl had a big say on agricultural policy.
He was also the top Democrat on the Senate Aging Committee and the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust. Kohl chaired all three panels when Democrats were in the majority.
Kohli didn’t mind doing things in the Senate without much credit. As Congress became increasingly partisan, little Kohl almost seemed like a throwback to another era.
“I am a man who does not believe in infection,” he once said. “I never go out and look to grab a microphone or be in front of a TV camera. When I go to work every day, I check my ego at the door.
She was followed by Democrat Tammy Baldwin, the first female Wisconsin senator and the first openly gay member of the Senate.
Kohl, who never married, said being single gave him time to balance the demands of life as a senator and owner. A sign on the desk in his Senate office read: “The Bucks Stop Here.”
