Wayne Weaver

J. Wayne Weaver (born January 13, 1935) is the majority owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League. He built the wealth that allowed him to purchase the expansion franchise as the owner of the shoe store chains Shoe Carnival and Nine West. After winning the expansion bid on November 30, 1993, Weaver then negotiated (what was then) the most lucrative deal with a host city amongst NFL franchises, including rights to virtually all parking and concession sales in the city-owned and operated stadium.

Weaver was born in Columbus, Georgia. Weaver worked his way up the corporate ladder at the St. Louis-based clothing company, Brown Group, Inc. In 1978, he left to found his own shoe corporation, which he sold in the 1990s. After his partnership was awarded an NFL franchise, Weaver and his wife, Delores, moved to Jacksonville, where they built a new home on four riverfront acres in the Lakewood area. In 2006, they moved to a smaller, $2.4 million condo in the Riverside area of Jacksonville. [http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/110406/bum_5976978.shtml]