RSSGOOD GRIEF … Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Wins Bidding War for NBA’s LA Clippers with $2 Billion Offer (Update: Donald Sterling Vows to Sue)
REALLY … 2 BILLION DOLLARS!!!
Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, has won the bidding war for the Los Angeles Clippers at a reported offer of $2 billion. That is if you can call paying $2 billion for the Clippers a win. The 58 year old Ballmer is worth a reported $20 billion, well make that $18 now if the deal is approved by the NBA commissioner Donald Sterling and three-fourths of the 30 NBA owners. Ballmer has reaffirmed his promise o keep the team in Los Angeles and not move it to home in Seattle. 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.
Sorry, Steve Ballmer is not the winner … the real winner is Clippers co-owner Shelly Sterling.
Well folks, don’t ask for things they might just come true. The next round of complaints will be that it is unfair for banished from the NBA for making racist comments, Clippers owner Donald Sterling, make such an amazing profit on the sale of the Clippers. Sterling paid $12 million in 1981. OUCH, from $12 million to $2 billion, that is quite the investment. Look for cries of foul that Sterling made money for racist comments. But I don’t see any complaints from Obama about income inequality when it comes to Ballmer and the other richest sports owners.
Steve Ballmer and Dr. Evil … Separated at birth.
1 MILLION 2 BILLION DOLLARS!!!
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.
he Geffen group offered $1.6 billion and the Ressler-Karsh group $1.2 billion. People familiar with both those offers said they were rejected.
Ballmer and Clippers co-owner Shelly Sterling concluded a deal late Thursday afternoon. But Bobby Samini, an attorney for Donald Sterling, said as he left the team co-owner’s home: “There’s been no sale. There can be no sale without Donald’s signature.”
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.
UPDATE I: Donald Sterling ruled mentally unfit, can’t prevent Clippers sale.
Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling does not have the authority to stop a $2 billion sale of his team because he has been determined to be mentally unfit to make decisions related to the family trust, a person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports.
The Sterling Family Trust owns the team, with Donald and his wife Shelly each owning a 50% share. The trust spells out provisions and procedures related to the mental capacity of the trustees, and Donald Sterling did not meet the standard in a determination by experts, giving his wife sole decision-making power for the trust, the person said.
UPDATE II: NBA confirms L.A. Clippers sale to ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
The NBA confirmed on Friday that the Los Angeles Clippers have been sold to former Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion, the largest ever for an NBA franchise.
The NBA’s statement said:
The NBA, Shelly Sterling and the Sterling Family Trust today resolved their dispute over the ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers. Under the agreement, the Clippers will be sold to Steve Ballmer, pending approval by the NBA Board of Governors, and the NBA will withdraw its pending charge to terminate the Sterlings’ ownership of the team. Because of the binding agreement to sell the team, the NBA termination hearing that had been scheduled for June 3 in New York City has now been cancelled. Mrs. Sterling and the Trust also agreed not to sue the NBA and to indemnify the NBA against lawsuits from others, including from Donald Sterling.
UPDATE III: Donald Sterling Vows To Sue
The statement came as NPR’s Tom Goldman received word from Sterling’s attorney that his client would sue the NBA for $1 billion in damages for terminating his ownership of the the team.
Tom says: “I communicated with Donald Sterling’s attorney Max Blecher via email. He confirms there will be a lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles.”
The lawsuit is “based on multiple counts, including antitrust violations, invasion of constitutional rights, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty,” Tom says.
“This is a lawsuit against the NBA and Commissioner Adam Silver, who of course banned Sterling for life, fined him $2.5 million and is in the process of trying to remove Donald Sterling from the ownership of the Clippers,” he says.
Posted May 30, 2014 by Scared Monkeys Business, Healthcare, Mental Health, Microsoft, NBA, Sports, WTF | 5 comments |
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[...] Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer wins bidding war for Cliipers with $2 billion [...]
“Look for cries of foul that Sterling made money for racist comments.”
Posted May 30, 2014 by Scared Monkeys
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Where is the outcry from residents of New Mexico that State Rep. Miquel Garcia continues to receive a pay cheque compliments of the American taxpayer?
Where is the 24/7 coverage in the mainstream media regarding State Representative’s Miguel Garcia’s emails discouraging voters from casting their ballots for white candidates.
If “Anglo” was replaced with “Black” in these emails … there would be riots in the streets. An apology would not have sufficed.
Why the double standard?
+++++
State rep attacks “Anglo Democrats” in email
May 13, 2014
http://krqe.com/2014/05/13/state-rep-attacks-anglo-democrats-in-email/
State rep apologizes for “Anglo” attack
May 14, 2014
http://krqe.com/2014/05/14/state-rep-apologizes-for-anglo-attack/
If the words of State Rep. Miquel Garcia in those emails were the words of Ted Cruz … by now every major network would be on it like attack dogs. However … it is a Hispanic Democrat who played the race card and therefore the silence is deafening.
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State rep attacks “Anglo Democrats” in email
May 13, 2014
Under a section titled “Treachery in Our Ranks Undermine Barreras and Otero”, Garcia wrote:
“A minority of unsuspecting Democratic leaders are supporting the Democratic Anglo newcomer opponents in Andrew’s and Frank’s primary races. Anglo Democrats with egos as big as Texas, mouths as big as the Grand Canyon, and much “green” [moolah] from the East and the West Coast. …”
http://krqe.com/2014/05/13/state-rep-attacks-anglo-democrats-in-email/
UPDATE
Will the sale of the Clippers now take place without the NBA facing litigation that Donald Sterling and his attorney threaten. In other words competency will become the the issue not an illegally recorded private conversation.
The following article is a must read. IMO
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Donald Sterling found to be mentally incapacitated
Fri May 30, 2014
This could be significant if it affects Sterling’s claim to control the Clippers and fight the NBA.
In public comments and official documents, Sterling and his lawyer have challenged the NBA on various fronts.
According to one of the sources, there is a provision in the Sterling family trust that says if either Donald Sterling or his estranged wife, Shelly Sterling, become mentally incapacitated, then the other becomes the sole trustee.
READ MORE:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/30/us/nba-clippers-sterling/
UPDATE
Banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling to sue NBA for $1 billion in damages
POSTED MAY 30, 2014
Disgraced Clippers owner Donald Sterling will file a lawsuit against the NBA seeking $1 billion in damages, according to his lawyer. …
This development comes on the heels of news that Sterling had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Sterling was reportedly diagnosed by doctors earlier this month and on Thursday it was reported that Sterling had been declared “mentally incapacitated” – a determination that removed him from power of the Sterling Family Trust and, by extension, the Clippers. That left Shelly Sterling as the sole trustee of the family’s trust, a status which fully empowered her to sign a $2 billion agreement to sell the Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
READ MORE:
http://nba.si.com/2014/05/30/donald-sterling-suing-nba-1-billion-clippers/