Reports have confirmed that the Los Angeles Clippers have been bought for $2B.
According to USA Today, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had signed a contract of sale with Donald Sterling's wife, Shelly Sterling. The contract which stated LA Clippers sale price worth $2B stands to be the most ever paid for an NBA franchise.
The contract has been sent for NBA's approval. At least 75% of the league's owners should approve of the sale in order to transfer ownership.
"Ballmer, who Microsoft's CEO for 14 years, beat out other bidders that included Los Angeles-based investors Tony Ressler and Steve Karsh and a group that included David Geffen, Oprah Winfrey, Larry Ellison and executives from the Guggenheim Group, the Chicago-based owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers," reports USA Today.
"Ballmer was part of a group headed by hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen that bid last year to buy the Sacramento Kings and move them to Seattle. But Ballmer told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month that he would not want to move the Clippers, should he buy them, because that would hurt the team's value."
The sale price for the Milwaukee Bucks used to hold the record for the highest amount paid for an NBA team at $550 million. The LA Clippers' $2B price tag is now the second highest for a sports franchise in USA, falling behind the LA Dodgers $2.1B sale in 2012.
After news broke out of Sterling's racism caught on tape, the NBA has been looking at the possibility of a forced LA Clippers. Sterling has received a lifetime ban from any NBA event, and was asked to pay a $2.5M fine. However, new reports have surfaced that Sterling expressed his non-intent to pay through a written letter to the NBA.
