Joseph Craft III (born October 13, 1950) is an American businessman. He is the president and chief executive officer of Alliance Resource Partners, L.P., the third-largest coal producer in the eastern United States.
Early Life and Education
Craft was born in Hazard, Kentucky. He received an undergraduate degree in accounting in 1972 from the University of Kentucky, and then earned a JD degree in 1976 from the University of Kentucky College of Law. He was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
Career
Craft began his career at Mapco Inc, a pipeline company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1985, he was elected senior vice president of legal and finance. In 1986, he became head of the coal division at Mapco. In 1996, Craft led a management buyout of the coal unit, forming a new company called Alliance Coal LLC. In August 1999, he became president and chief executive of Alliance Resource Partners, L.P., and in January 2019, he also assumed the role of chairman of the general partner's board of directors.
Political Activism
Craft is a major political donor. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that he had given more money to Democratic candidates at the state level between 2008 and 2019 than to Republican candidates. In January 2012, Craft donated approximately $500,000 to Restore Our Future, a Super PAC supporting Mitt Romney. He is also an ally and donor to Donald Trump, having hosted a private fundraiser for Trump in 2016 and contributed more than $2 million to the Trump presidential inaugural committee through a trust. Craft has been reported to have lobbied Trump administration officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to overturn environmental protections of the Clean Power Plan.
Philanthropy
In 2015, Craft and his wife Kelly Craft co-founded the Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics at Morehead State University, committing over $10 million to the academy. He has made significant donations to the University of Kentucky, including a $6 million pledge that led to the naming of the Joe Craft Center basketball practice facility, a $4.8 million donation for a football operations facility, and a $7.5 million gift to renovate the football team's indoor practice facility. He also donated $5 million to "A Gathering Place for Tulsa" park and $1 million to the Hazard ARH Hospital. Craft has taken the Giving Pledge.
Personal Life
Craft is married to Kelly Craft, a businesswoman who served as U.S. Ambassador to Canada (2017–2019) and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2019–2021) under President Donald Trump. The couple have six children and, as of 2018, 11 grandchildren.
