Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan answers a query during a press conference at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, October 28, 2014.
Jeff Siner | Tribune Information Service | Getty’s paintings
Basketball legend Michael Jordan has agreed to sell his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets National Basketball Association to wealthy investors Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall, representative of Jordan confirmed on Friday.
Jordan sold the stake for $3 billion, a source near the deal told CNBC. Jordan will retain a minority stake in the team as a part of the deal.
Jordan took a majority stake in the Hornets in 2010 for $275 million, having previously owned a minority stake in the team. If the sale is approved, it is going to mean that Jordan has earned roughly 10 times his original investment.
Owned by six-time NBA champion Jordan, the Hornets struggled, making the playoffs only twice.
Plotkin acquired a minority stake in the Hornets in 2019 and served as a deputy governor on the NBA Board of Governors. He’s the founding father of the investment management company Tallwoods Capital.
Schnall is co-president of a private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, where he has been working for 27 years. He has been a minority owner of the NBA Atlanta Hawks and a deputy governor on the NBA Board of Governors since 2015.
He’s in the strategy of selling his investment in Hawks, which is predicted to shut in the next few weeks.
The group of buyers also includes billionaire Dan Sundheim, owner of D1 Capital, together with North Carolina musicians J. Cole and Eric Church.
The sale includes other assets of the Hornets Sports & Entertainment group, including its G League team, the Greensboro Swarm; his esports team, the Hornets Venom GT; and the management and operation of the Spectrum Center where the Hornets play.
The Hornets transaction is subject to the approval of the NBA Board of Governors.
Forbes values the Hornets at $1.7 billion, rating them twenty seventh out of 30 NBA teams.