THROWBACK: When Michael Jordan Was Contacted by Saudi Princess for ‘$25 Million Nuggets Investment’ Opportunity

Michael Jordan loved basketball more than anything. Even after retirement, he wanted to own an NBA team because he didn’t want to leave the game. Jordan wanted to run his team’s day-to-day business. After his retirement in 1998, he sought a team to buy. In 1999, The NY Post revealed he was a ‘$25 Million Nuggets Investment’ opportunity by a Saudi Princess. 

Back in ’99, Jordan asked then-owner George Shinn about buying a minority stake in the Hornets. However, the two sides did not agree on the price for controlling the day-to-day operations of the team. Interestingly, even before Jordan bought a majority stake in the Hornets, he was contacted by a Saudi Princess for a minority stake in the Denver Nuggets.

Princess Thara Baselia Saud offered the basketball legend $25 Million to own a minority stake in the team. However, only a few expected that Michael would actually invest in the Nuggets.

He wanted to control the day-to-day operations of the team in which he was investing, and Charles Grantham was already in line to take the position. In the end, Jordan did not partner up with the Princess. In fact, he ended up going for a minority stake in the Wizards, a stint that didn’t last long. 

Michael Jordan had to sell his Wizards stake to come out of retirement

It was in 2000 that Jordan finally had an offer on the table, which he had wanted for a very long time. He finally ended up going for the Washington Wizards, where he got a minority stake (10%) and also control of day-to-day operations.

Fun Fact

In 2001 as the Wizards GM, Jordan gave himself a 5 million dollar contract to play for the team. And he gave every dollar of that money to victims of 911.

“I’m just gonna play the game of basketball I love, it’s not about the money.” pic.twitter.com/yVtYToOZ5Q

— MjsGoat (@MJsGoat) August 5, 2021

However, by 2001, the six-time NBA champion wanted to make his return to the NBA as a player. Perhaps he was too tired and restless to see the players on the court. Going by the league rules, he could not have a stake in any of the teams in the league. Sadly, he sold his stake in 2001 to come out of retirement for the 2nd and final time.