Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer agrees to buy Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion

Shawn Knight

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microsoft ceo steve ballmer clippers

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has agreed to purchase the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion. Ballmer and Clippers co-owner Shelly Sterling reportedly settled on the deal late Thursday afternoon although Bobby Samini, an attorney for Donald Sterling, pointed out that there can be no sale without Donald’s signature.

If successful, the deal would be the highest ever paid for an NBA franchise and the second highest ever for a sports franchise in North America. The previous high was $550 million paid for the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this month. The all-time high for a sports team is $2.1 billion for the Dodgers in 2012.

Donald Sterling has run the Clippers for more than three decades but when a recent audio clip surfaced of him insulting African Americans, the NBA took quick action and banned him from the league for life. Last week, the owner agreed to let his wife sell the team ahead of an NBA hearing that aimed to oust the family from ownership.

In addition to a signature from Donald Sterling, the sale would need to be approved by at least three-fourths of the 30 NBA owners. There likely wouldn’t be opposition to Ballmer purchasing the team so long as he agreed to keep the franchise in Los Angeles instead of moving it to Seattle.

If you recall, Ballmer retired as Microsoft’s CEO in February and passed the torch on to Satya Nadella. With a net worth of around $20 billion, Ballmer didn’t need to seek out partners in order to acquire the team.

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WOW! Good for him. I wonder how this works -- does he write a check for $2,000,000,000 and mail it or does his bank do a $2,000,000,000 wire transfer? I wonder what the wire transfer fees are on that?
 
I find it so sad how people use their riches sometimes... some of that money could have went to charity...
 
I find it so sad how people use their riches sometimes... some of that money could have went to charity...

I was thinking: that when an organisation or person receives a large amount of money, they should be held accountable for what they intend to do with it next.

Large amounts of money, when moved, can have a significant impact on an economy. People with a lot of money, have a lot of power. With power comes great responsibility. With responsibility, comes irresponsibility. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

From DW.UK
 
Wait what??? He spent $2bill on an NBA team... I am sorry but since when was a sports team worth that much... that is like saying a set of 10 pens is worth $40billion...

Steve ballmer just burned $2bill when he could have spent it on something that could either have earned him more money or helped someone...

Next bill gates will be buying a NBA team for $50billion because hey if NBA teams are worth $2billion then they must be earning $1billion a year right!
 
Why not buy Microsoft shares with that $2 billion, Steve?

Steve Balmer is the the largest single share owner of Microsoft with 333 million shares.

Wait what??? He spent $2bill on an NBA team... I am sorry but since when was a sports team worth that much... that is like saying a set of 10 pens is worth $40billion...

Steve ballmer just burned $2bill when he could have spent it on something that could either have earned him more money or helped someone...

Next bill gates will be buying a NBA team for $50billion because hey if NBA teams are worth $2billion then they must be earning $1billion a year right!

Paul Allen (Microsoft co-creator) owns 3 sports teams (Seattle Seahawks, Portland Trailblazers & Seattle Sounders FC). Sports teams DO make the owner money. Especially with the NBA having a salary cap, players can only make so much. Steve Ballmer has already raised & donated billions for various groups.
 
Wait what??? He spent $2bill on an NBA team... I am sorry but since when was a sports team worth that much... that is like saying a set of 10 pens is worth $40billion...

Steve ballmer just burned $2bill when he could have spent it on something that could either have earned him more money or helped someone...

Next bill gates will be buying a NBA team for $50billion because hey if NBA teams are worth $2billion then they must be earning $1billion a year right!
Bidding. The Milwaukee Bucks are worth $550 mil and they're one of the worst NBA teams.

If enough people get interested on obtaining it (an auction basically), the value gets raised, especially taking into account the huge market it's in (LA, along with the Lakers billion dollar franchise), and you have yourself a team with a multiplied value. All that's been on the news sites the last couple of weeks were people wanting to pool funds and co-own the clippers with partners.
 
BUT, it still is NOT final since Donald hasn't agreed to it. Not to mention Donald is possibly ‘mentally incapacitated’.
 
His notoriously whacky facial expressions alone will be worth the 2bn pricetag. I can hardly wait to see him in the owner's box cheering on the team.
 
wastedkill said:
Wait what??? He spent $2bill on an NBA team... I am sorry but since when was a sports team worth that much... that is like saying a set of 10 pens is worth $40billion...
Steve ballmer just burned $2bill when he could have spent it on something that could either have earned him more money or helped someone...
Next bill gates will be buying a NBA team for $50billion because hey if NBA teams are worth $2billion then they must be earning $1billion a year right!


Before you talk from your butt again, read about the expected value of the next media contracts the NBA is about to get. When Sterling bought for 12 million people might have been saying the same thing. Guess who was the smart guy.
 
I don't get it. How much money does this basketball club has to generate per annum to be worth 2 billion? It just seems all the way unreasonable.
 
I find it so sad how people use their riches sometimes... some of that money could have went to charity...
Charity begins at home my friend but I do agree with you. This acquisition is probably a tax write off or something similar.

If it was for a tax write-off it wouldn't be that much of a benefit. Acquisition costs are capitalized over the life of the asset and can only be recovered upon the sale of the asset. I'm pretty sure there are some tax deductible expenses that Steve Ballmer can take now, but I believe this transaction is solely a consumption purchase.

Also, I don't get this notion that Steve Ballmer isn't helping someone when he is buying this team. He is helping people such as the players and admnistrative staff, who stay employed and can take of people that depend upon them. The notion that he isn't helping someone because he is not giving his money away is a misnomer.
 
Wait what??? He spent $2bill on an NBA team... I am sorry but since when was a sports team worth that much... that is like saying a set of 10 pens is worth $40billion...

Steve ballmer just burned $2bill when he could have spent it on something that could either have earned him more money or helped someone...

Next bill gates will be buying a NBA team for $50billion because hey if NBA teams are worth $2billion then they must be earning $1billion a year right!
Bidding. The Milwaukee Bucks are worth $550 mil and they're one of the worst NBA teams.

If enough people get interested on obtaining it (an auction basically), the value gets raised, especially taking into account the huge market it's in (LA, along with the Lakers billion dollar franchise), and you have yourself a team with a multiplied value. All that's been on the news sites the last couple of weeks were people wanting to pool funds and co-own the clippers with partners.
I don't get it. How much money does this basketball club has to generate per annum to be worth 2 billion? It just seems all the way unreasonable.

What's the fastest way to become a millionaire? Be a billionaire and buy a sports team. :)

As a member of the Milwaukee area I've heard plenty of arguments recently about why an NBA team is 'worth' so much money. The Bucks just sold for $550 million, which sounds crazy high. AND they are going to spend even more on building a new arena. These NBA teams sell for so much because there are so few of them. Being an owner of a major sports team is a VERY exclusive club. (Probably the only one harder to get into would be ex-US presidents, but there aren't enough of them to throw a party.)

They are paying for the prestige, not future cash flows. You could have a trillion bucks in the bank and not be able to buy a sports team. That's why people pay crazy amounts of money for them. Throw in that it's Los Angeles, and you can quadruple the price compared to Milwaukee. There's also the fact that the Sterlings were being forced to sell, which means a high offer fast prevented some bidding.
 
I don't get it. How much money does this basketball club has to generate per annum to be worth 2 billion? It just seems all the way unreasonable.

Considering the Bucks went for $550 million, the current quasi-success of the Clippers along with some NBA stars on their team plus the fact that their TV rights are up in 2016 which will mean a nice cash influx... $2billion isn't far fetched especially since there were groups willing to bid up to $1.6 million.
 
Considering the Bucks went for $550 million, the current quasi-success of the Clippers along with some NBA stars on their team plus the fact that their TV rights are up in 2016 which will mean a nice cash influx... $2billion isn't far fetched especially since there were groups willing to bid up to $1.6 million.

$1.6mill is a massive difference between $2bill...
 
Considering the Bucks went for $550 million, the current quasi-success of the Clippers along with some NBA stars on their team plus the fact that their TV rights are up in 2016 which will mean a nice cash influx... $2billion isn't far fetched especially since there were groups willing to bid up to $1.6 million.

$1.6mill is a massive difference between $2bill...

Typo, 1.6billion.
 
Wait what??? He spent $2bill on an NBA team... I am sorry but since when was a sports team worth that much... that is like saying a set of 10 pens is worth $40billion...

Um, at least since May 2, 2012, when the Los Angeles Dodgers were also sold for $2B. But, I get your point and I would certainly not spend that kind of money on a sports team (but, this is easy to say when I don't have that kind of money)
 
BUT, it still is NOT final since Donald hasn't agreed to it. Not to mention Donald is possibly ‘mentally incapacitated’.
Actually, if the Clippers get sold for two billion dollars, it makes Mr. Sterling's, "racist rant", sound like a shrewdly calculated business decision. That's probably quite a bit more than they're worth. We all know Mr. Gates doesn't want to be thought of as cheap. At 85 years of age, I think I'd rather have the cash, than the aggravation of owning a sports team. Which after all, is just as much a matter of seeking the prestige it brings, as it is a business.

I thank God, (not literally), that it didn't go to HIV positive, serial adulterer, and sexual predator, Magic Johnson.
 
What I find hilarious is the people posting in there that don't agree with what balmer does with his own money.

O he should do this or do that.

If anyone of you won 10 million tomorrow and I came to you and said hey you don't need that much money to live you should give 5 million to charity. 90% of you would tell me to F*** ***!

You guys crack me up.
 
What I find hilarious is the people posting in there that don't agree with what balmer does with his own money.

O he should do this or do that.

If anyone of you won 10 million tomorrow and I came to you and said hey you don't need that much money to live you should give 5 million to charity. 90% of you would tell me to F*** ***!

You guys crack me up.

You are giving them too much benefit... I would say 99% of them... unless they were already rich and 10 million is just chump change.
 
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