Feld is the son of Adele and Irvin Feld.[1] He graduated from the Boston University School of Management in 1970 with a management degree (Feld is currently a member of the BU Board of Trustees).[2] According to a 2004 article in Forbes magazine, he was worth $775 million and lives in Potomac, Maryland. His mother committed suicide in 1958 so he and his sister Karen were raised by their aunt and uncle.[3]
Irvin Feld bought Ringling Bros. Circus in 1967 for $8 million.[4]
Clair George has testified in court that he worked as a consultant for Kenneth Feld and the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. From 1990 to 1997, he was involved in a program of surveillance, which included wiretapping, directed against Janice Pottker, a journalist who had written about the Feld family, and of various animal rights groups such as PETA and the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS).[3][7]
In January, 2014 Forbes reported that Feld had become a billionaire. The magazine estimated his stake in the company to be conservatively worth about $1.8 billion after running price-to-sales comparisons with comparable companies.[8]
Feld is the world’s second circus industry billionaire after Cirque du Soleil’s Guy Laliberte, whose net worth Forbes also estimated to be $1.8 billion.[8] In 2009, the Feld Family Foundation pledged $10 million to Boston University.[9]
Personal life
He was married to Bonnie Turen, who is also Jewish.[10] They have three daughters: Nicole Feld, Alana Feld, and Juliette Feld.[11] All three of his daughters work at Feld Entertainment: Nicole Feld produces the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus shows; Alana Feld is executive vice president and producer of Feld Entertainment's stage shows;[12] and Juliette Feld is chief operating officer of Feld Entertainment.