Harris is the founder of 26North, an alternative asset manager. He previously co-founded Apollo Global Management with Marc Rowan and Leon Black. He later co-founded Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, owner of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and NHL's New Jersey Devils, and in 2023 became lead owner of the NFL's Washington Commanders.
The majority of Harris's fortune is derived from shareholdings and earnings at Apollo Global Management, the alternative asset manager he co-founded in 1990. He owns about 6% of the firm, according to a December 2025 filing.
According to the firm's 2011 prospectus, Apollo distributed about $4.4 billion to its managing partners between 2007 and 2010, of which about $1.2 billion is credited to Harris.
Harris founded alternative asset manager 26North in August 2022. The firm managed $31.8 billion in September 2025 with strategies including private equity, credit and insurance solutions, according to its website. Harris' funds at the firm are not included in the calculation because they are already accounted for in his other assets.
Harris owns stakes in sports and entertainment ventures including the Philadelphia 76ers NBA team and New Jersey Devils NHL team through his firm Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. His stake is calculated at 41%, based on his status as founder and dilution from founding rounds involving private equity firm Arctos Sports Partners. It was valued at $4 billion in a July 2023 funding round. That figure is adjusted to reflect subsequent changes to the 76ers valuation by sports media firm Sportico.
Harris led a group that purchased the Washington Commanders in July 2023 for $6 billion, including a $250 million earn-out payment. He is credited with a 30% stake, the minimum requirement for the lead owner under NFL rules. The team is valued at $6.3 billion based on a report from sports media firm Sportico, less $1.1 billion in debt.
Harris owns an 18% stake in Crystal Palace outside of the Harris Blitzer group. The English soccer team was valued at $335 million by sports media company Sportico in 2023.
The value of his cash holdings includes proceeds from his other assets and is adjusted to reflect taxes, market performance, insider transactions and charitable giving.
Josh Harris was born in December 1964 in Chevy Chase, Maryland. His father was an orthodontist and his mother was a schoolteacher.
After graduating the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1986, he joined the mergers and acquisitions team at Drexel Burnham Lambert. It was at Drexel that he met his future Apollo co-founders, Leon Black and Marc Rowan.
After Drexel collapsed in 1990, Harris, Black and Rowan co-founded Apollo Global Management. In the 1990s, they focused on buying distressed U.S. firms. Apollo has expanded its geographic and investment scope and operates in leveraged buyouts, real estate investments and publicly traded funds, and is now one of the world's largest alternative asset managers.
In 2011, Harris led the investment group that purchased the Philadelphia 76ers NBA franchise from Comcast Spectacor. He subsequently co-founded Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, whose investments include the New Jersey Devils NHL franchise and Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.
Harris announced in May 2021 he was stepping down from his day-to-day responsibilities at Apollo to focus on his personal investments, shortly after Marc Rowan was promoted to chief executive officer at the firm.
In 2022 he founded 26North, an alternative asset manager with offices in New York and Miami with strategies across private equity, credit, insurance and reinsurance solutions.
Harris lives in Miami with his wife, Marjorie. They have five children.