A number of potential ownership groups have been rumored to be interested in pursuing the Trail Blazers. Among the names that I have heard as possible majority owners: Oracle Corporation co-founder Larry Ellison, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott and Laurene Powell-Jobs. Ellison has unsuccessfully attempted to buy NBA teams on three occasions. Scott is the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Powell-Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, is an executive and businesswoman.
Larry Ellison Rumors
Chamath Palihapitiya: When I land, I call my friend Phil Hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) He listens to my sob story and says, hey, let’s go and have some pizza and watch basketball with my friend Joe Lacob. So the next day, a Saturday, we go to Joe’s house to eat pizza and watch some basketball. At the end of the pizza, he tells me that he’s close to buying GSW. At the time, the news was that Larry Ellison was going to buy the team and I didn’t think it likely that Joe would win the bid. But he was confident and says to me: “I have 10% of the team you can buy for $25M if you want to join our bid.” I shook his hand, wired the money and at 34, became a co-owner of an NBA team. Pretty nuts! Joe’s obviously done an amazing job building the best franchise in sports and I’ve been extraordinarily lucky to be along for the ride.
When Joe Lacob and Peter Guber paid $450 million for the Golden State Warriors in 2010, the sports world was left scratching its head. The first major team purchase for the venture capitalist and Hollywood producer, who outbid billionaire Larry Ellison, then the world’s sixth-richest person, set a record price for an NBA franchise. It was hardly anyone’s idea of a crown jewel. Forbes valued the team at $315 million seven months earlier, No. 18 in the league. The team had been to the playoffs just once in the prior 15 years and had inconsistent attendance at its 44-year-old arena. No one is questioning the deal now. Today the Warriors are valued at $3.5 billion, the third most valuable team in the NBA behind the New York Knicks ($4 billion) and Los Angeles Lakers ($3.7 billion), a ten-fold appreciation since 2009 that has proven to be the decade’s best team investment in all the major sports leagues, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and international soccer, on a percentage basis.
There is little doubt, if the franchise were to be put on the market, who would be the early odds-on favorite to buy it. That would be Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle Corporation. Ellison has attempted to buy three NBA teams, the Golden State Warriors, New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies. And if he bought the Blazers, he would become the richest owner in the NBA, surpassing the Clippers’ Steve Ballmer by about $15 billion. Ellison’s net worth has been estimated at $64.5 billion, which would make him the sixth-richest person in the world. He financed the winning sailboat in the 2010 America’s Cup and actually crewed on that craft. He is also a licensed pilot who owns fighter jets.
When Paul Allen bought the team from Larry Weinberg on May 31, 1988, it came as a complete surprise. Nobody had any idea the team was even on the market until Allen showed up for the news conference. There is little doubt, if the franchise were to be put on the market, who would be the early odds-on favorite to buy it. That would be Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle Corporation. Ellison has attempted to buy three NBA teams, the Golden State Warriors, New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies.
And if he bought the Blazers, he would become the richest owner in the NBA, surpassing the Clippers’ Steve Ballmer by about $15 billion. Ellison’s net worth has been estimated at $64.5 billion, which would make him the sixth-richest person in the world. He financed the winning sailboat in the 2010 America’s Cup and actually crewed on that craft. He is also a licensed pilot who owns fighter jets.
When recently asked about the events of 2010, Larry Ellison’s representation quickly replied, “We will decline comment for this story.” In the aftermath of Lacob buying the team, Joe alleges that Ellison tried to sabotage the process, beseeching Lacob’s investors to pull out. “I know, I talked to investors along the way,” Lacob says. “I wasn’t in those conversations, so I don’t know. But I do know that we had a hard time because we thought we had several investors in the deal who disappeared suddenly.” Big-money minority owners who’d pledged loyalty to Ellison dropped out during that process. They’ve thus lost out on the massive windfall that’s come with this Warriors rise. Back in 2010, $450 million was a record price for a North American sports franchise. Now? No less an expert than David Stern says of the current Warriors, “The team is probably worth something in excess of $2 billion. Substantially in excess of $2 billion, eight years later.”
