Former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has 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.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-...529-story.html
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This has been one of the more bizarre stories to follow. Mr. Sterling has had quite the life changing swings in the last few weeks.

It was quite clear the owners were looking for a reason to give him the boot. I am happy to see him go, as well. He has held that franchise down for decades. Good riddance.

I'm not a Clippers fan, so I don't really care if the franchise turns into a perennial playoff team. However, I am not a Ballmer fan. I have always seen him as a bit of a tyrant. I have little to base that on, though.
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Richest NBA owner with a net worth of $20.5 Billion. Reportedly was the only bidder not to need other investors included on the bid. Poor Miwaukee Bucks just sold for $500 million and the Clipppers sale brings in $2 billion. Either way it is a good day to be an NBA owner with this kind of money being thrown at a franchise.
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The nice thing about this is it will get replays Sterling's remarks out of the (sports) news and we can all move forward.
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Favorite Steve Ballmer Quotes

Hand picking a few:
On the iPhone (2007): “There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It’s a $500 subsidized item.”

On Apple (2012): “In every category Apple competes, it’s the low-volume player, except in tablets.”

On Linux (2001): “Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches.”


Man, I just don't trust that guy at all. For any clippers fans, I think you shouldn't trust a word he says. Whatever he promises, don't believe it. His track record is littered with complete and utter BS.
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Not too different from a number of other owners :-)
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Ballmer is an original softie (Microsoft employee). He is passionate and has always seen the MS way as the best way. Not surprising that he'd dis the competition. In that arena, admitting that your competition has a very good product is likely to cause a stock drop.

What will be interesting, provided that the sale goes through, is if he can modify his rhetoric to the more polite world of the NBA.
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This whole thing was a clever rouse by Sterling to inflate value and get a feeding frenzy for his team. Brilliantly played as 2 billion is way more than it would've sold other wise. He is no racist IMO.

Bravo Mr. Sterling, bravo....
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Actually the sales price is based more on the the expiring, and consequently the renewal, of the television contracts that come up in one or two years. The LA market will bring a HUGE new contract, worth billions of dollars.

$2Billion may look cheap in a few years.
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That is almost what the Dodgers sold for. It may look cheap in a few years, but what teams are trading for recently world wide; 2 billion is top dollar for a historically losing team.
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I believe the Dodgers sold for more ($2.16 billion) but that deal also included parking lots and other assets which makes it more expensive.

Clippers are back in a big way competitively and the LA market loves it. With Chris Paul and Blake Griffin on the team you have a perennial championship caliber team. That combined with some other factors really drove up the price. Shelly Sterling deciding to quickly sell the team and giving all bidders a deadline to submit an offer inflated the price since no one else knew what the bids were. Ballmer is a diehard fan of the NBA and definitely has the money to bid whatever he wanted. He knew he would have to be the highest bidder and he obviously did just that.

Regional markets really affect the profitability and viability of sports teams. LA is a huge market and when their teams are winning everyone wants to be a part of the team. While the Clippers obviously aren't the Lakers, there is a diehard fan base. Clippers should come close to the Lakers T.V deal when it is up in 2 years. Combine that with the money infusion Ballmer will bring to the team (Sterling has always been notoriously cheap) and the team should be very profitable in a short amount of time for him.

It is an insane amount of money but professional sports (especially NFL) is worth big money. You have to pay to play and Ballmer made a big splash doing it.
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Well said, Christos.
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