It is official – former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is now the official owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team. After being held up in a court battle between the league and outgoing owner Donald Sterling, Ballmer believes the purchase of the LA Clippers is “the best path” for him to take.
“It was my dream to have a team in Seattle,” said former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. “I spent some time on that and worked on it and I wish that had worked. I don’t know when that will happen. With luck, maybe it happens in the next few years, but if it takes a few more than that, I decided that this was probably the best path for me to take.”
Ballmer apparently has no immediate plans to relocate the team to Seattle. According to Ballmer, the NBA would never allow it and he paid the $2 billion price since the Clippers are a Los Angeles based team. But, Ballmer remains optimistic about Seattle having its own team too some day. “It is really unfortunate that the greatest city in America doesn’t have a professional basketball team. And so, I still hope that happens.”
“Probably most people will tell you I paid an L.A. beachfront price, not a Seattle beachfront price for the team,” Ballmer added. “I’m not crazy.” Ballmer paid $2 billion for the purchase of the team.
BREAKING: Steve Ballmer is the owner of the @LAClippers
— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) August 12, 2014
Further reading: Clippers, Steve Ballmer
