Clippers sold to former Microsoft CEO for $2 billion
Former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has reportedly won the bidding for the Los Angeles Clippers NBA franchise, with a $2 billion offer. As Marketplace has reported, less successful teams in smaller markets have sold for just a fraction of that figure.
According to the Los Angeles Times, this sale would be the biggest in NBA history:
Ballmer, who was chief executive of Microsoft for 14 years, was chosen over competitors that included Los Angeles-based investors Tony Ressler and Steve Karsh and a group that included David Geffen and executives from the Guggenheim Group, the Chicago-based owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
A person with knowledge of the negotiations said the Geffen group bid $1.6 billion and Ressler at $1.2 billion.
Any sale would still need to be approved by league owners, who shot down Ballmer’s earlier bid for the Sacramento Kings.
Clippers co-owner Shelly Sterling has chosen to sell the team five days ahead of an NBA hearing to take the team out of her family’s hands. Her husband and former co-owner, billionaire Donald Sterling, bought the team for $12 million 30 years ago.
Thus, the man banned, chastised and fined for racist comments — could be looking at a pay day of billions of dollars.
Read Marketplace’s past coverage of the Clippers’ regime change:
- “If the Clippers are for sale, what’s the franchise worth?”
- “How Donald Sterling won ‘humanitarian awards‘”
- “Donald Sterling donates a lot of Clippers tickets“
- “Sizing Up Donald Sterling’s other business interests“
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
