Grant Hill received a lesson in big business on Thursday.
Grant Hill group offers $1.2 billion for the Los Angeles Clippers
It was revealed Wednesday that a group including the former NBA player bid $1.2 billion to buy the Los Angeles Clippers. That apparently is some $600 million short of a bid by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, according to Forbes.
Forbes reported Thursday that Ballmer has offered to buy the Clippers from banned owner Donald Sterling for $1.8 billion. Forbes added the each of the five bids presented to Shelly Sterling, Donald's estranged wife who is in charge of the Clippers sale, were valued at $1 billion to $2 billion.
Ballmer headed a group that tried unsuccessfully last summer to buy the Sacramento Kings with the purpose of moving them to Seattle. He was said to offer in the neighborhood of $625 million.
The Forbers report Thursday said the price still could climb if some of the interested parties join forces on the bid. The NBA's owners will vote on June 3 on whether to force Sterling to sell. The vote needs 75 percent - or 23 owners - to say 'yes' for the measure to pass.
Donald Sterling has indicated he will take the NBA to the league goes through with the force-out.
Magic Johnson was wrong to respond to Donald Sterling's ramblings
Forbes lauded the tact Shelly Sterling used in putting the Clippers up for sale by using the strategy former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt used to get a $2 billion sale for his franchise. Both conducted blind auctions that weren't affected by any interference from their respective leagues.
The Guggenheim Baseball Management, which included Magic Johnson as a minority owner, had a bid that was $500 million more than the next highest bidder.
At its current highest bid of $1.8 billion, the Clippers sale would be the second highest price ever paid for a sports team in the U.S. Forbes added that the price would amount to a 16.3 percent compound rate of return.
According to Forbes, the Dodgers sale amounted to a 26 percent rate of return for McCourt.
Donald Sterling bought the franchise in 1981 for $12.5 million. So even in punishment for racial comments made that were recorded on audio and leaked to the media, Sterling stand to become a much richer person for the sale.
Do you think Donald Sterling will go through with his threat of a lawsuit against the NBA if he is forced to sell the Clippers? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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