Spending money has never been an issue for Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. In 2014, the former Microsoft CEO bought the NBA team for a then-record $2 billion, a move that was widely seen as an overpay at the time (Forbes had most recently valued the Clippers at $575 million). This January, Ballmer shelled out more than $152 million to extend 32-year-old, All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard’s contract for another three seasons, and he is expected make similar moves with his other aging talents, Paul George, 33, and James Harden, 34. Next year, one of his crowning achievements will come to fruition, when the Clippers move into their new home, the $2 billion Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.

Despite the enormous bill Ballmer has racked up in a decade of team ownership, it’s barely dented his fortune. The 68-year-old is worth an estimated $121 billion, according to Forbes’ 2024 World’s Billionaires list, up from $80.7 billion in 2023. His 50% year-over-year wealth increase, primarily due to the stellar stock performance of Microsoft, has once again made Ballmer the richest sports team owner in the world.

The top spot was previously held by Mukesh Ambani, who owns the Mumbai Indians cricket team through his publicly traded conglomerate Reliance Industries. (Forbes has adjusted its methodology to exclude teams owned by public companies and, therefore, their shareholders. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, owner of Japanese baseball’s Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, was left off for the same reason, as well as teams owned by giant private conglomerates, including Red Bull’s Formula 1 team and INEOS’ Manchester United and OGC Nice.)

Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirnbaum/2024/04/05/the-worlds-richest-sports-team-owners-2024/?sh=3d78f3ff309f

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