Michael Jordan is selling his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets, with a deal reportedly in the works.
The former Chicago Bulls star is relinquishing ownership of the team to partners Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall, having already sold them a 20 percent minority stake three years ago. And he’s set to walk away with an unbelievable profit after becoming the majority owner in 2010.
Previous owner Robert Johnson was forced to sell for pennies on the dollar back then as he was in debt, with most of his honey tied up in illiquid private equity deals, Johnson was after a figure between $325 million – $350 million for the franchise but ended up selling for a reported $275 to MJ due to incoming interest payments of around $40 million.
However, as Joe Pompliano points out, Jordan never actually paid that amount and only put down $25 million in cash on the $170 million equity valuation, with the remaining $105 million mostly consisting of existing business debt.
So His Airness only forked out $25 million, less than what he made playing for the Bulls in the 1996/97 season. While his legacy as an owner will be one marked by failure, it shouldn’t matter to him that much as he’s set to pocket $3 billion off a $25 million investment.
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MJ is poised to receive two times the sum he got when he sold that 20 percent stake in 2020 and 11 times the $270 million the team garnered in revenue last season.
The Hornets will be part of the seventh-most expensive team sale of all time. Not so much of a failure when you look at it that way.
