ST. LOUIS - Years before billionaire and Missouri native Stan Kroenke moved the Rams from St. Louis to Los Angeles, he strategically maneuvered his way into full ownership, setting the stage for the team's departure.

Dubbed as 'Silent Stan,' Kroenke has always been known as a strategic businessman that made moves out of the public eye. After inheriting a part of his wealth through his marriage with Wal-Mart heiress Ann Walton in 1974, Kroenke was able to expand his fortune by launching a real-estate empire by building a variety of shopping districts surrounded around Walmart's throughout the country.

Although many St. Louis sports fans view Kroenke as the city's villain for relocating the Rams, many aren't aware that Kroenke was also a driving force for the Rams to move to St. Louis in the first place.

According to St. Louis Magazine, Stan Kroenke attempted to bring an expansion NFL team back to St. Louis in 1993, named the St. Louis Stallions, years after the Cardinals departed for Arizona in 1987. After being considered a frontrunner for the leagues expansion, the NFL decided to reward Charlotte, NC and Jacksonville, FL with teams instead.

With the city of St. Louis yearning for another NFL team and a current owner at the time frustrated with a stadium in another city, Kroenke was later able to take advantage of a potential partnership that just needed an extra partner.

Kroenke was recruited by former Los Angeles Rams owner, Georgia Frontiere, who was focused on relocating the team to St. Louis due to frustration around Anaheim Stadium, where the team played for 14 years.

According to ESPN, Kroenke ended up purchasing a 40% minority stake in the Los Angeles Rams for $80 million, facilitating the team's relocation to St. Louis. Not only did the purchase give Kroenke ownership to his first professional sports team that he had been seeking, it also gave him the first opportunity to purchase the remaining stake of the franchise or match any offer if it had opened up.

That opportunity came for Kroenke in 2010.

According to ESPN, Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez, the children of Georgia Frontiere, decided to sell the remaining stake of the Rams after Frontiere died in 2008. Many suitors attempted to purchase the Rams following Frontiere's death, including Illinois businessman Shahid Khan, but Kroenke was given the green light to purchase the team through a matching bid worth $750 million, giving him sole ownership of the team.

After initially pledging to stay in STL, Kroenke later changed course by silently purchasing a large piece of land in Los Angeles and leading an effort to relocate the team back to the city he helped take the team from in Los Angeles. The Rams would later relocate to the city in 2016.

According to Forbes, the Los Angeles Rams have an estimated value of $10.5 billion, as of August. While the move to LA generated a ton of revenue and gave Kroenke the chance to own his own stadium for the team in Sofi Stadium, it has left a sour taste in the mouths of sports fans in St. Louis nearly 10 years later.