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Hornets owner Michael Jordan is in “serious talks” to sell his majority stake in the team to Hornets minority owner Gabe Plotkin and Atlanta Hawks minority owner Rick Schnall, according to an ESPN report.
Why is matters: Jordan, the Hornets’ owner for the last 13 years, is a six-time NBA champion and largely regarded to be the greatest basketball player of all time.
- He is the NBA’s only Black majority owner.
Flashback: Jordan bought a majority stake in the team, then the Charlotte Bobcats, from former owner Bob Johnson in 2010 for $180 million. He had been a minority owner in the team since 2006.
- In 2020, Jordan sold a significant minority stake to Plotkin, founder and chief investment officer of Melvin Capital, and Daniel Sundheim, founder and chief investment officer of D1 Capital, as ESPN reported.
- The Hornets are worth an estimated $1.7 billion, per Forbes.
Zoom out: Jordan’s tenure has had its highs and lows. The team, for instance, has struggled in recent years and hasn’t made the playoffs since 2016.
- In 2019, Charlotte hosted the NBA All-Star Game, two years later than originally planned. The league had relocated it in 2017 because of its objection to North Carolina’s HB2, or the so-called “bathroom bill.”
- The Hornets are in 418-600 in Jordan’s time at the franchise’s helm, as the Observer reported, and team has had five head coaches.
Of note: If the sale goes through, Jordan would remain a minority owner in the team, per ESPN.
A Hornets spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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