Steve Balmer explains his idea for making basketballs bigger. (Humor alert.)
James Rainey of The Los Angeles Times announces Steve Ballmer appears to win Clippers bidding war for $2 billion, which is estimated to be 10% of his total wealth of $20 billion. This is nearly four times the previous high for the sale of a NBA team.
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer appears to have won a frenetic bidding war for ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers, with a $2-billion offer that would set a record price for an NBA team.
Ballmer bid higher than competitors that included Los Angeles-based investors Tony Ressler and Bruce Karsh and a group that included David Geffen and executives from the Guggenheim Group, the Chicago-based owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The sale price would be almost four times the previous NBA franchise high: the $550 million paid earlier this month for the Milwaukee Bucks. It is the second highest price ever paid for a sports team in North America. The Dodgers sold in 2012 for $2.1 billion.
Donald Sterling's lawyer said he deal is not legal until it has Sterling's signature.
The deal will also need the approval of 3/4 of the other owners.
Rumors are that the Geffen group offered $1.6 billion and the Ressler-Karsh group offered $1.2 billion.
It looks like from a financial angle this whole affair has worked out rather well for Donald Sterling, which is too bad. If I were his adviser I'd recommend he donate this entire amount to the Magic Johnson Foundation and disappear without comment.
6:01 PM PT: Despite the fact that Steve Balmer was part of a previous group who made an offer for the Clippers in order to take them to Seattle this article says he more recently said he has not plans to do that now.
6:12 PM PT: Sorry, Seattle: Even If Steve Ballmer Does Buy The Clippers, They Aren't Leaving LA
If the Times is right and deal is real and it actually goes through (and that’s all still a big “if”) would Ballmer—who served as CEO of Microsoft MSFT +0.82% and still lives in Seattle—move the team? ... There’s reason to think that he would.
He’s offered several times to put up his own money to build a new arena in Seattle.
He even explicitly bid for the Sacramento Kings last year in hopes of moving them to town.
And about 20% of NBA relocations—beginning decades ago, when the Philadelphia Warriors moved to San Francisco—have involved an owner wanting the team to play in his backyard.
But sorry, Seattle fans: Ballmer has maintained that he would keep the Clippers in Los Angeles.
That may be a PR gambit; Ballmer still needs to win support from the NBA’s board of governors, who vetoed his Kings move and likely want to keep the Clippers in Los Angeles.After all, Seattle’s vacant basketball arena is an incredible bargaining chip—for every other NBA owner trying to negotiate with their own city. (“Milwaukee doesn’t want to give us tax breaks and public money? We’ll move the team—the Seattle StarBucks have a nice ring.”)
The clincher from Forbes point of view is that Balmer could make more money in L.A. and has said he doesn't have to work anymore so he as more "geographic flexibility."