Source: Jacob Kupferman / Getty
Michael Jordan may already be a billionaire, but he’s about to run up another check.
The GOAT has officially found a buyer for the Charlotte Hornets. In March, News broke back that Jordan was shopping around the majority stake of the team that he originally purchased in 2010 from BET owner Robert L. Johnson.
Jordan’s been involved in NBA basketball for almost 40 years, and no one knows why exactly he’s selling the team. Still, its roughly $3 billion valuation, from his original $275 million investment, could be all the reason he needs.
The Hornets dropped the news on social media, confirming that Jordan isn’t altogether leaving the team and he’ll remain a minority owner.
“Hornets Sports & Entertainment (HSE) announced today that Chairman Michael Jordan has reached an agreement to sell his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets to a group (“the Buyer Group”) led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall,” the official statement from the Hornet reads.” As part of the transaction, Jordan will retain a minority ownership share of the team. The transaction is subject to the approval of the NBA Board of Governors.”
The initial news even prompted a response from NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who understands that Jordan’s departure means there’s no longer a Black majority team owner in all of sports. Silver remains committed to diversifying ownership groups.
“In the same way that it’s wonderful that one of our greatest, Michael Jordan, could become the principal governor of a team, he has the absolute right to sell at the same time,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this month during an NBA Finals news conference. “I would love to have better representation in terms of principal governors. It’s a marketplace. It’s something that if we were expanding that the league would be in a position to focus directly on that, but in individual team transactions, the market takes us where we are.”
With the sale comes new owners, and one name with a minority stake is J. Cole and fellow musician Eric Church, who are part of the Buyers Group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall.
When news broke months ago that Jordan was looking to cut ties with the team, Twitter pondered why:
