10 Potential Candidates To Buy The L.A. Clippers

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Feb 14, 2004
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Commissioner Adam Silver dropped the hammer on Donald Sterling Tuesday by banning the Los Angeles Clippers’ owner for life from the NBA after his racist remarks were leaked to the public. The unprecedented punishment also includes a $2.5 million fine and the promise to force a sale of the Clippers. Silver requires the votes of three-quarters of NBA owners to compel a sale. Silver’s comments at Tuesday’s press conference and the supporting statements from most owners suggest he has the votes, but this promises to be a complicated battle if Sterling fights the sale and all indications are that he will. There are serious legal and tax issues that need to be resolved. Sterling is also on record saying the club is not for sale.

There will be no shortage of bidders if the NBA and Sterling can work through these issues. The Clippers were a train wreck of a franchise for three decades, but have turned into one of the league’s marquee franchises behind stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. The Clippers have had their three best records in franchise history the past three years and are regulars on national TV while packing the Staples SPLS +0.77% Center. Top NBA franchises don’t come up for sale very often. Recent NBA sales for the Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks were all for clubs that rank among the NBA’s least valuable. The Bucks have arguably the worst financial situation in the NBA and are in the process of being sold for an NBA-record $550 million.

Sterling paid $12.5 million for the Clippers in 1981. The team sale is going to crush the Bucks’ sale price and could reach $1 billion. The NBA is on the verge of signing a new national TV package that is expected to top $2 billion annually, compared to $930 million a year under the old deals. The Clippers local TV deal with Fox Sports expires after the 2015-16 season and will be renewed at a massive premium. The Los Angeles Lakers just kicked off a 20-year, $3.6 billion local deal with Time Warner Cable. The Clippers and Lakers have the NBA’s two longest tenured owners and an NBA franchise has not come up for sale in the L.A. market in more than 30 years. Southern California is loaded with wealthy sports fans that will pay through the nose to join the NBA’s exclusive club of owners. Here are some of the leading candidates to be the next owners of the Clippers ranked from highly unlikely to the favorites.

Floyd Mayweather:

Mayweather threw his name in the ring Tuesday while talking to the media promoting his Saturday fight with Marcos Maidana in Las Vegas. “I called Al (Haymon) today about that to see if me, Leonard (Ellerbe) and Al, and hopefully Richard (Schaefer) and a couple of other guys, a couple other of my billionaire guys, we can come together and see what we can come up with,” Mayweather said. “Hopefully, we can do it, and it’s not just talk. Mayweather has made more than $350 million during his boxing career, but carries too much baggage to garner entry into the NBA club. A jail sentence for domestic violence, a penchant for gambling and his own racist rant against Manny Pacquiao are a few of the strikes against a bid involving Mayweather.


Oscar De La Hoya:

De La Hoya retired as a boxer in 2009, and has built the biggest boxing promotion firm in the U.S. with the help of Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer. De La Hoya has a statue outside of the Staples Center, but that is likely to be as close as De La Hoya gets to Staples. He has his own baggage, including photos of him in fishnet stockings and multiple trips to rehab.

Billy Crystal:

Crystal’s name has been bandied about by others. The comedian/actor and long-time Clippers superfan was asked this week about buying the team. He responded in jest: “We’re in negotiations.” Crystal owns a small piece of the Arizona Diamondbacks, but don’t expect him to be the Clippers boss.

Chris Hansen:

The hedge fund manager partnered with former Microsoft MSFT -0.27% CEO Steve Ballmer to try and bring the Sacramento Kings to Seattle with the promise of a new arena. He reached an agreement with the Kings’ owners in January 2013, but the relocation and sale were rejected after a Sacramento group led by Vivek Ranadive stepped in to buy the team. Hansen clearly wants an NBA team, but it is highly unlikely the NBA would approve a move by the Clippers to Seattle.


Rick Caruso:

Real Estate tycoon Rick Caruso struck out in his bid to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers. He expressed interest this week in buying the Clippers. Caruso is often labeled a billionaire in the press, but he falls short of the Forbes billionaires list.

Henry Samueli (net worth $2 billion):

Samueli cofounded chipmaker Broadcom and bought the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks in 2005. He tried to lure the Kings to the Honda Center in Anaheim to fill the building with NBA dates, but was denied. The Clippers just signed a 10-year lease extension at the Staples Center, but Samueli could play the long game in hopes of the Clips making the short hop to Anaheim.

Larry Ellison (net worth: $49.3 billion):

The fifth richest man in the world made previous runs at buying the Golden State Warriors and New Orleans Hornets, but was outbid both times. If the Clippers’ sale becomes a bidding war, no one has a bigger war chest than Ellison.

Patrick Soon-Shiong (net worth $9.8 billion):

The surgeon turned entrepreneur is the wealthiest resident of L.A. Magic Johnson sold his 4% stake in the Lakers to Soon-Shiong in 2010. Could he trade his purple and gold for red and royal blue?

David Geffen (net worth $6.2 billion):

The entertainment mogul told Forbes reporter Ryan Mac on Tuesday, “I would very much like to buy the team.” Geffen made a $700 million offer to buy the team in 2010, but was rebuffed. The price tag has definitely gone up.

Magic Johnson & Guggenheim Partners:

Johnson has been a part of the Sterling story from the beginning. It was pictures of Sterling’s girlfriend with Johnson on Instagram that set Sterling off on his racist rant. Johnson and his financial backers, Guggenheim, are interested in buying the Clippers, according to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski. If interested, the Johnson group is the clear favorite. The NBA would love to bring Magic into the fold. He is royalty in NBA circles. The Johnson/Guggenheim group blew other bidders out of the water paying $2 billion for the Dodgers. Guggenheim would also love to get its hands on the Clippers for TV purposes. The Dodgers’ rich price tag was fueled by an expected local TV deal with Time Warner Cable, which eventually climbed to $8.5 billion. TWC is having trouble getting carriers to pick up the Dodgers’ new regional sports channel, but adding another team to the mix would make the channel more valuable.

10 Potential Candidates To Buy The L.A. Clippers - Forbes
 
Feb 10, 2006
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from one racist to another, i cant see Floyd owning the clippers...dont even know why his name is being mentioned still.
 
May 13, 2002
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from one racist to another, i cant see Floyd owning the clippers...dont even know why his name is being mentioned still.
He wouldn't be, he can't afford it. Any sports star or celebrity throwing their name into the mix can't afford half a billion or more. Only people on the list that would be legit are real billionares where throwing down a bill isn't shit to them, i.e big-time businessmen.
 
Jan 29, 2005
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Steve Ballmer, the former Microsoft CEO has won the bidding with 2 billion.

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to buy Clippers for $2 billionÂ*-Â*Los Angeles Times

Former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer won a frenetic bidding war for ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers, with his $2-billion offer setting a record price for an NBA team, The Times has learned.
Related story: Outcry over Sterling's remarks renew focus on housing bias lawsuits
Related story: Outcry over Sterling's remarks renew focus on housing bias lawsuits
Kim Christensen, Nathan Fenno

Ballmer, who was chief executive of Microsoft for 14 years, was chosen over 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, according to three individuals familiar with the negotiations.

One of the individuals with knowledge of the negotiations said the Geffen group bid $1.6 billion and Ressler at $1.2 billion.

The sale price is almost four times the highest previous NBA franchise sale price -- the $550 million paid earlier this month for the Milwaukee Bucks. It is second only to the Dodgers' 2012 sale for $2.1 billion as the highest price for any sports team in North America.
lRelated At least 3 groups make offers in initial round of bidding on Clippers



The prospective sale by Clippers co-owner Shelly Sterling comes five days ahead of an NBA hearing to oust her family from ownership following a controversy in which Donald Sterling insulted African-Americans in a secret audio recording.

The tentative deal still must receive the blessing of her husband, Donald Sterling, who has waxed and waned on the question of whether he would allow his wife to sell the team he has controlled for more than three decades.

The deal also needs the eventual approval of 29 other NBA owners, but is expected to clear that hurdle as long as Ballmer reaffirms his pledge to keep the team in Los Angeles and not move it to Seattle, where he lives.

Ballmer, 58, left the software giant in February and has an estimated net worth of $20 billion. Unlike other bidders, he did not immediately seek out partners for the purchase of the Clippers.

Ballmer last year joined a group, led by hedge fund manager Chris Hansen, to bid on the Sacramento Kings, intending to move the team to Seattle. NBA owners voted to reject the proposed move.

The businessman said in a recent interview that he had no intention of moving the Clippers. He said that the high valuations for the team only made sense in Los Angeles -- the second biggest media market in the country.
 
May 13, 2002
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Sonics are back! No one can match Steve Ballmer, $2 billion? Lol and he has like $30 more. And unlike that Sacramento deal, I don't feel the least bit bad about it because LA has two teams and the Clippers had like fourteen fans total before a couple years ago.

Anyways, the wife confirmed it:

“I am delighted that we are selling the team to Steve, who will be a terrific owner,” Shelly Sterling said in a statement.* “We have worked for 33 years to build the Clippers into a premiere NBA franchise.* I am confident that Steve will take the team to new levels of success.”

And Ballmer isn't spending all that money to keep them in LA. Just like when Clay Bennett said he intended to keep the Sonics in Seattle when he bought the tean, yeah sure!
 
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Cut-Throat

Bob Pimp MOBBEN!!!
Apr 25, 2002
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Sonics are back! No one can match Steve Ballmer, $2 billion? Lol and he has like $30 more. And unlike that Sacramento deal, I don't feel the least bit bad about it because LA has two teams and the Clippers had like fourteen fans total before a couple years ago.

Anyways, the wife confirmed it:

“I am delighted that we are selling the team to Steve, who will be a terrific owner,” Shelly Sterling said in a statement.* “We have worked for 33 years to build the Clippers into a premiere NBA franchise.* I am confident that Steve will take the team to new levels of success.”

And Ballmer isn't spending all that money to keep them in LA. Just like when Clay Bennett said he intended to keep the Sonics in Seattle when he bought the tean, yeah sure!
As long as they are winning and selling out, they ain't goin anywhere.