Herb Kohl, former Bucks owner and former U.S. Senator, dies at 88 after short illness

Former Milwaukee Bucks owner and former Democratic U.S. Senator Herb Kohl died Wednesday at 88, Herb Kohl Philanthropies announced. Kohl died after a brief illness, according to the organization.

Kohl was beloved in his native Wisconsin for saving the Bucks from leaving the state with his $18 million purchase of the team from Jim Fitzgerald in 1985. The Milwaukee native owned the team for nearly 30 years until he sold it to Wes Edens and Marc Lasry for $550 million on April 16, 2014. He was the only senator to own a professional sports team.

“I am pleased, happy and delighted,” he said during a news conference when he purchased the team. “The Milwaukee Bucks are in Milwaukee, and they are going to stay in Milwaukee.”

At a later time, he said: “The opportunity I was given to purchase and to keep the team here in Milwaukee is one of the most unique and fortunate experiences I’ve ever enjoyed.”

After the Bucks won the NBA Finals in 2021, the former owner was invited and sat in the lead car during Milwaukee's championship parade on July 22, 2021. For his efforts to keep the Bucks in Milwaukee, the team presented him with a championship ring during the banner unveiling to begin the 2021-22 season.

"This is one of the big days of my life," Kohl said when interviewed at the parade.

Kohl's relationship to Wisconsin sports was not limited to the Bucks, either. He was a childhood friend and college roommate of former MLB commissioner Bud Selig.

The former Wisconsin grad (1956) donated $25 million to his alma mater to help with the construction of the Kohl Center. It made history as the the single largest private donation in university history. The Badgers basketball and hockey teams play in the facility. Kohl was inducted into the Wisconsin Hall of Fame in 2007.

“I was very happy to be in a position to help build a first-rate, state-of-the-art sports arena,” Kohl said. “I think it cements the university’s reputation as one of the premier athletic programs in the Big Ten and the country.”

Kohl earned his Bachelor of Science from Wisconsin before earning his master's degree in business administration from Harvard University in 1958. He served in the Army Reserves for six years from 1958 to 1964.

After that, Kohl returned to Wisconsin to help run his family's grocery and department stores. Before he entered politics, he served as president of the Kohl family's company, which was sold in 1979. He won his U.S. Senate seat in 1989 and remained in office until 2013.

"The office doesn't belong to me," he said when announcing his decision not to run for re-election. "It belongs to the people of Wisconsin, and there is something to be said for not staying in office too long."