Good evening! Today is Thursday, March 16, 2023, and we’re coming to you with HOT BREAKING NEWS.
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2 financiers in talks to buy majority stake in Charlotte’s NBA team; Hornets agreed to Spectrum Center lease last year through 2045
by Tony Mecia
There’s a blockbuster report out tonight from ESPN that says that Michael Jordan is in talks to sell his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets.
The report says that Jordan “is engaged in serious talks” to sell control of the team to Gabe Plotkin, the founder and chief investment officer of Melvin Capital Management; and to Rick Schnall, co-president of New York private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. Plotkin is already a minority owner of the Hornets, and Schnall is a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks. The article cited anonymous sources.
Jordan — a UNC Chapel Hill grad who won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls — is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, if not the Greatest of All Time (GOAT). But he has had a much less distinguished career as owner of the Hornets. He bought a minority stake in the Charlotte Bobcats in 2006 and gained a majority stake in 2010, when he became the first former NBA player to hold a majority ownership of a team. (The Bobcats became the Hornets starting in 2014.)
Since 2010, the Bobcats/Hornets have had three winning seasons and made the playoffs only twice, most recently in 2016, and losing both times in the first round.
Good investment: Despite the repeated losses, the Hornets have proved to be a sensible investment. The team is worth about $1.7 billion, according to Forbes — much more than the $280 million it was worth when he bought it.
Last year, the city of Charlotte and the Hornets agreed to extend the Hornets’ lease at the Spectrum Center through 2045.
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project