“I would characterize John as a gentleman politician. He’s not overtly political. But that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t understand politics. He’s not ham-handed. But he does know how to play that game.”
— Rob Manfred, MLB commissioner
“John really believed there is a different way to analyze football matches leading toward success. That strategy has proven right. John is not only thoughtful, he’s very driven by understanding things. When you watch on television and they say, ‘Liverpool has 62% of ball possession’ — the more you understand the game, you realize that’s a completely irrelevant statistic. We have learned and absorbed and executed in a very data-driven way that has led to success. That is one of John’s talents: to really understand what makes success.”
— Tom Werner, Fenway Sports Group chairman
“Just because he carries himself in a gentle way doesn’t mean he’s not doggedly competitive.”
— Theo Epstein, Fenway Sports Group senior adviser and former Red Sox GM
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“He’s questioning everything all the time. ‘Why is this happening? Why are we doing that? And what is actually happening here?’ He asks question after question.”
— Sam Kennedy, CEO of Fenway Sports Group
“He’s unassuming. If you saw a group of people at a table in a hotel lounge, you wouldn’t pick him out as one of the leaders. But he is.”
— Mark Attanasio, Milwaukee Brewers owner
“Because John is a very strong and rational decision maker, some people come away with the impression that there is detachment or indifference. That it’s dispassionate. That because he doesn’t throw a water bottle across the room or pop champagne corks and spray people on a day-to-day basis, somehow John doesn’t care as much as he should. And I can tell you without reservation that that is not so. That he cares immensely, day by day. There are angry texts back and forth between he and I if something isn’t going well in a game, and effusive, excited ones when they are.”
— Mike Gordon, Fenway Sports Group partner
“It’s clear he is a visionary. But a lot of visionaries don’t get in deep. He’s definitely a big idea guy, but then he goes deep into the intricacies with his own spreadsheets and models. He’s working to make the organization better all the time.”
— Ed Weiss, Fenway Sports Group general counsel
“John is reserved. Which is not the most common trait of someone who has the résumé of John Henry.”
— Vinay Nayak, senior VP of strategy, Fenway Sports Group
“The biggest misperception is that he doesn’t care. Baseball is the soundtrack to our lives. The degree to which he works on it every day is astonishing.”
— Linda Pizzuti Henry, Fenway Sports Group partner and wife of John Henry
