Clippers Sold To Former Microsoft Exec For $2 Billion?

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has apparently won the bidding war Thursday for the Los Angeles Clippers with a staggering $2 billion offer for the NBA franchise, according to the L.A. Times.

The frenzied battle to get the team from Sterling drove the franchise’s price sky high for a team that Forbes estimated was worth at $575 million back in January.


The franchise has been in turmoil since owner Donald Sterling was recorded on tape by an associate making racist comments about Magic Johnson, among others.

In short order, NBA commissioner Adam Silver slammed Sterling with an unprecedented lifetime ban for his remarks, imposed a $2.5 million fine, and began the process to force a sale of the Clippers.

Sterling’s wife, Shelly, who owns 50 percent of the team had been reviewing five bids for the franchise.

The Daily News reported on Friday that Sterling had decided to part with the team he bought for $12.5 million in 1981.

According to the L.A. Times, the 58-year-old Ballmer, who is reportedly worth around $20 billion, apparently edged out groups led by Los Angeles-based investors Tony Ressler and Steve Karsh, as well as a group that included music mogul David Geffen and the Guggenheim Group, the owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers.