10 Richest NBA Owners
There are a lot of wealthy sports franchise owners out there, but the NBA might have the richest collection of all the major sports leagues. What follows is a look at the 10 wealthiest NBA owners. All of their estimated net worth figures come from Bloomberg or Forbes.
10. Robert Pera, Memphis Grizzlies, $6.7 Billion
Pera is the founder of Ubiquiti Networks Inc., a global communications technology company. He worked at Apple after graduating college and in 2005 decided to launch his own company. He founded Ubiquity Networks using $30,000 of personal savings. Ubiquity specialized in delivering the Internet wirelessly to underserved areas and branched out from there. Pera is worth an estimated $6.7 billion.
In 2012, Pera entered the sports world by agreeing to purchase the Grizzlies. The sale was approved on October 25, 2012. The purchase price was $377 million. Not a bad investment, since the franchise is currently worth $2.5 billion.
9. Jimmy Haslam, Milwaukee Bucks, $8.7 Billion
Haslam's father founded Pilot Corporation and Jimmy worked his way through the company. Pilot slowly built up an empire of travel centers around the country. Eventually the company merged with Flying J in 2010 to become Pilot Flying J, which is one of the largest privately held companies in the U.S. Haslam is currently the chairman of the company's board.
Haslam has multiple sports franchises. He purchased the Cleveland Browns for $1 billion in 2012, then bought the Columbus Crew in 2019. He finally found his way into the NBA in 2023, as he purchased a stake of the Bucks from Marc Lasry, making him a co-owner with Wes Edens and Jamie Dinan.
8. Josh Harris, Philadelphia 76ers, $10.1 Billion
Harris is building an impressive sports ownership portfolio of his own after completing the purchase of the Washington Commanders in 2023. Harris is a co-founder of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management and owns a number of sports franchises. He is the managing partner of the 76ers, the New Jersey Devils and the Commanders, while also being the general partner of English football club Crystal Palace.
Harris bought the 76ers along with Blackstone executive David Blitzer in 2011 as part of a big ownership group. He's worth an estimated $10.1 Billion.
7. Tony Ressler, Atlanta Hawks, $10.7 Billion
Ressler is another private equity guy. In 1990 he founded Apollo Global Management with several partners, then founded Ares Management, a company that currently has more than $295 billion in total assets under management. Ressler himself is worth an estimated $10.7 billion.
Ressler was part of an investment group that bought the Milwaukee Brewers in 2005 and he remains a minority owner. In 2015, he made a bid to purchase the Hawks, and was successful for a price tag of $850 million.
6. Tilman Fertitta, Houston Rockets, $11.2 Billion
Fertitta was a partner in the first Landry's Restaurant, which opened in Katy, Texas in 1980. Since then his restaurant and hospitality empire has grown exponentially. His current portfolio includes the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino, Morton's Steakhouse, the Rainforest Cafe, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., McCormick & Schmick's Seafood & Steaks, and many more. He's worth around $11.2 billion.
Fertitta was an early investor of the Houston Texans but eventually sold his stake. He purchased the Rockets from Leslie Alexander in 2017 for a then-record $2.2 billion. The deal included the Toyota Center.
5. Tom Gores, Detroit Pistons, $11.3 Billion
Gores is a founder of Platinum Equity, a private equity firm based in Beverly Hills, California. He founded it in 1995 and began acquiring struggling companies to turn around. He made 32 acquisitions from 1996 to 2001. He has bought and sold numerous companies for profits and is worth an estimated $11.3 billion.
In 2011, Gores bought Palace Sports and Entertainment -- the parent company of the Pistons -- for $325 million. That came after Red Wings and Tigers owner Mike Ilitch's deal to buy the team fell through. Gores has since become the franchise's sole owner.
4. Micky Arison, Miami Heat, $12.8 Billion
Miami Heat owner Micky Arison is the owner, co-founder and chairman of Carnival Corporation. He was the CEO of the company from 1979 until 2013. A University of Miami attendee, he dropped out before graduating to become a sales representative for Carnival Corporation. He's now worth nearly $13 billion.
Arison bought the Heat in 1995 and the franchise has won three NBA titles on his watch. He made the move to hire Pat Riley as the team's head coach and later president, which changed the direction of the franchise.
3. Stan Kroenke, Denver Nuggets, $17.6 Billion
Stan Kroenke is a sports business mogul with a number of franchises in his portfolio. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment owns Arsenal F.C., the Los Angeles Rams, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids and the Denver Nuggets. Kroenke married Ann Walton -- a Walmart heiress -- in 1974. He founded real estate development firm the Kroenke Group in 1983 to help develop areas near Walmart stores.
He founded Kroenke Sports & Entertainment in 1999 and bought the Nuggets and Avalanche in 2000 to begin sports ownership. He's reportedly worth $17.6 billion, which includes his ownership of Ball Arena in Denver and SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
2. Dan Gilbert, Cleveland Cavaliers, $25 Billion
Cavs owner Dan Gilbert is one of the wealthiest men in America. He's the majority owner of Rocket Mortgage and the founder of Rock Ventures. The 62-year-old founded Rock Financial in 1985 and in the late 1990s launched online becoming an early Internet direct mortgage lender. Intuit purchased Rock Financial in 2000 and renamed it Quicken Loans. In 2002, Gilbert and several private investors purchased Quicken Loans, of which he's the chairman of. The company went public in 2020 under the name Rocket Companies. Gilbert owns 79 percent of the company's shares. He is worth a reported $25 billion.
Gilbert bought the Cavs for $375 million in 2005, which was a record for an NBA franchise at the time. The team won its first NBA title in 2016 under his watch.
1. Steve Ballmer, Los Angeles Clippers, $142 Billion
Ballmer is the wealthiest owner in all of sports, and that should shock no one. The 67-year-old was the CEO of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014 when he retired. He was hired by Bill Gates at Microsoft in 1980, became president in 1998 and replaced Gates as CEO in 2000. He purchased the Clippers in 2014 for a reported price of $2 billion and has been regarded as one of the best owners in the NBA.
Ballmer is worth a reported $142 billion, but pinning down an exact figure is difficult. If that number is correct, he'd be the world's fifth-richest person.