The Clippers might have lost Game 2 against the Mavericks in the first round of playoffs, but their owner Steve Ballmer is breaking records in the business world. According to the ‘Richest Owners in Sports’ list published by Forbes, Ballmer has taken over the world of sports with his net worth of $119.8 billion. Even though the former CEO of Microsoft faced stiff competition from other big players, he managed to take the top spot with a decent margin.
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The closest competition to Ballmer on the list is the Indian business tycoon, Mukesh Ambani, who is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries. Ambani owns a franchise cricket team in the Indian Premier League known as the Mumbai Indians. He boasts a net worth of $117 billion and is the only person on the list, apart from Ballmer, with an evaluation over the $100 billion mark. After the first two spots, there’s a huge drop in terms of net worth on the list as Rob Walton, the owner of the Denver Broncos, takes the third spot with a net worth of $77.4 billion.
31-year-old Mark Mateschitz, the owner of Red Bull, is placed fourth on the list with a net worth of $38.6 billion. Apart from Ballmer, the only other NBA franchise owner on the list is Miriam Adelson, the new owner of the Dallas Mavericks. She is on the fifth spot with a net worth of $30.3 billion. The billionaire casino magnate took over the majority ownership of the Mavs from Mark Cuban in 2023 in a deal that was roughly estimated at $3.5 billion.
Another major change that’s happening in the basketball world is the Clippers shifting their home arena to Inglewood. The team’s owner has splurged over $2 billion in building the arena that’s equipped with state-of-the-art technology and has everything that sports fans look for.
Steve Ballmer’s $2 billion project
The Clippers currently use the Crypto.com Arena as their home court, but not for long. The Intuit Dome is going to be ready by August. Ballmer’s vision behind building the arena is that he wants to offer an immersive live sport experience to the 17,700 fans gathered to support their team. The Intuit Dome will also come with a power outlet at every seat, adjustable fans, and at least twice the number of restrooms as one can usually find inside an arena.
The President of basketball operations for the Clippers, Gillian Zucker told Variety, “What you’ll see [at Intuit Dome] is the culmination of research by thousands of people, who have answered questions and been very generous with their thoughts for how we can make this place the most special place possible for people who love live events and want to be part of a community with others.” Speaking of live events, the Intuit Dome already has its first artist booking with Usher. The R&B legend is set to perform at the arena on September 21-22 for his Usher: Past Present Future Tour.
