Donald Sterling’s defiance to sell the Los Angeles Clippers may not hold up too much longer. His somewhat estranged wife Shelly is announcing that she reached an agreement with former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to buy the NBA franchise for $2 billion.
According to sources close to ESPN, Shelly and Ballmer signed the final paperwork close to midnight yesterday evening as she was acting as the sole authority of the Sterling family trust.
In a written statement, she skipped all the melodrama and expresses her excitement to have Ballmer on board.
“I am delighted that we are selling the team to Steve, who will be a terrific owner. We have worked for 33 years to build the Clippers into a premiere NBA franchise. I am confident that Steve will take the team to new levels of success,” Mrs. Sterling said.
Ballmer, who worked at Microsoft from 1980-2004, echoed those very same sentiments.
“I love basketball,” said Ballmer. “And I intend to do everything in my power to ensure that the Clippers continue to win — and win big — in Los Angeles. L.A. is one of the world’s great cities — a city that embraces inclusiveness, in exactly the same way that the NBA and I embrace inclusiveness. I am confident that the Clippers will in the coming years become an even bigger part of the community.”
ESPN pointed out that the business tycoon’s decision to buy the franchise is nothing more that a hobby move, seeing that the Clippers are only worth an estimated $700 million.
He upped the ante on the bidding of some of the most wealthiest Americans, including Oprah and David Geffen.
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Photo: WENN
