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You might have heard that Rooney Mara recently had a baby with partner Joaquin Phoenix. You might have also heard that Kate Mara starred in the popular FX series called A Teacher.
While there’s a lot going on in the Mara sisters’ worlds, you probably don’t know that they are the heirs to not one but two multi-billion dollar NFL dynasties run by their parents’ families.
They both lead very private lives with their other halves and are pretty much like any other celebrity. Who knew they were born into extreme money like that? More importantly: what will they do with it all once they’ve inherited it? There’s a good chance they will donate it to anti-animal cruelty organizations.
Both Kate and Rooney Mara recently became mothers. Kate welcomed a daughter into the world with her husband Jamie Bell in May 2019, and Rooney Mara had a son with her fiancé Joaquin Phoenix in September 2020. However, it remains unclear if either one of the sisters passed on either of the family names to their children. Kate Mara has yet to reveal her daughter’s name to the world, while Rooney Mara’s son is named River, in honor of his father’s late brother, but his last name and middle name remain under wraps. Whether or not either of these children is named “Rooney” or “Mara”, these two children have nevertheless been born into two of the richest families in the country.
Updated on January 26th, 2023 by Abigail Thomas: Kate and Rooney Mara lead very public lives as celebrities, but not every aspect of their lives is on display. Though sources previously reported that Rooney and Joaquin Phoenix would never get married because they felt marriage was too mainstream, they seem to have secretly tied the knot. Phoenix referred to Rooney as his wife following the birth of their son River. Kate Mara also feels very strongly about keeping some level of privacy for her family. She has been married to Jamie Bell since 2017, and as of late 2022 they now have two children together, a boy and a girl. Kate has not shared the names of either of her children, even though her daughter was born several years ago. Mara was featured in several television shows last year, including Black Mirror, and Rooney starred in the film Women Talking, which has been nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars.
Kate And Rooney Mara Were Born Into Money
Years before the Mara sisters became celebrities and started the successful careers they have today, they were already pretty rich. They don’t come from Hollywood royalty, they come from NFL royalty. Together they are worth more than $25 million, but their family is worth an incredible $3 billion.
Rooney Mara’s name is actually Patricia Rooney Mara and Kate Mara’s real name is Kate Rooney Mara. Rooney just decided to cut Patricia and change her name. It works, though.
Their parents are Kathleen McNulty Rooney, whose family owns the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Timothy Christopher Mara, whose family owns the New York Giants. The family is reportedly worth over $3 billion.
The Mara Family’s Fortune Goes Back Decades
In 1925, Tim Mara was chosen by the President of the NFL, Joseph Carr, to form a New York professional football team, in the days when professional football was not as popular as it is today. So he bought New York’s NFL franchise for $500.
It took a long time to get the team off the ground, but eventually, after playing against other teams across the country, the New York Giants lifted off.
While making a ton of money in those first games, Mara began to buy out or merge with any other team in New York who wanted to become just as popular. After Mara died in 1959, the Giants remained in the Mara family’s ownership, with his sons Wellington and John “Jack” Mara carrying on the family business.
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First Jack Mara became president, then Wellington became co-owner, President, and CEO until his death in 2005. The torch then passed to his son, John Mara, who is now the President, CEO, and co-owner (with Steve Tisch). The sisters’ father, Timothy, is now a scout and Vice President of Player Evaluation.
The Rooney Family Also Go Way Back
The Rooney fortune started when Arthur Joseph “Art” Rooney, Sr., who played in Minor League Baseball and in a couple of semi-pro football teams, paid $2,500 to form an NFL team in Pittsburgh, in 1933.
First known as the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Pittsburgh Steelers, which changed its name in 1941 (the same year Rooney became President and owner), had their ups and downs in the beginning just as Mara’s team had.
After seeing the team through many Super Bowls in the ’70s, Art Rooney passed the business on to his son Dan Rooney, who became the chairman of the Steelers, with his four brothers serving on the Board of Directors.
Dan Rooney’s oldest son, Art Rooney II, is now the President. Kathleen McNulty Rooney, Rooney and Kate’s mother, is his younger sister, and a real estate agent.
So there you have it. These two extremely complicated and extremely rich royal families of football married into each other just like any real royal family would.
The Mara sisters, who also have two brothers, Daniel and Connor, have a huge family, like most royal families too. They have 22 aunts and uncles and about 40 cousins. Their father is one of 11 and on their mother’s side, their great-uncle Dan Rooney had nine children.
Kate And Rooney Mara’s Mother Encouraged Them To Act
One of Kate’s first performances ever was when she sang the Star-Spangled Banner at a Giants game when she was 14, at the request of her grandpa Wellington Mara.
“When I was like 14, my grandpa, you know, would ask, ‘Will you sing the national anthem?’ And to me, I was so young, I didn’t realize how insane and nerve-wracking that was,” Kate explained on Live With Kelly and Ryan.
The sister’s mother, however, was the person who really encouraged them to break out into acting and performing. She inspired them to act by taking them to tons of Broadway shows and showing them old films.
She also taught her girls to become philanthropists just like her. They attended the Social Innovation Summit together in 2012. Both the sisters have gone on to do work in animal rights activism as well.
Both sides of the family are quite private, and the sisters are the only well-known members. Unlike most of America’s “royal families” like the Kardashians and the Hiltons, they are not popular because of reality television shows. They went on to have successful careers outside their family’s money and live completely independent lives.
Though now Kate and Rooney Mara seem completely removed from the world of football, Kate Mara is very passionate about the sport. She has discussed football in several interviews, referencing her father, and now she is the narrator of the podcast American Football.
In the podcast with Michael Strahan, they discuss the origins of professional football. There are nine episodes to listen to on Audible.
