Abramovich Drops Off As Ballmer Rises
Team: Los Angeles Kings, LA Galaxy
Net Worth: $10.9 billion
Anschutz raised the Stanley Cup twice in the 2010s, and after a three-year lull, it looks like his Kings might be poised to make another run.
In July, he dumped his 27% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers—which Forbes estimates was worth roughly $1.2 billion—to Dodgers part-owners Todd Boehly and Mark Walters, but he remains the owner of Crypto.com Arena.
Team: Memphis Grizzlies
Net Worth: $14.6 billion
Pera’s Grizzlies are the least valuable team in the NBA, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t reaped the benefits of exploding team valuations.
After his $377 million purchase of the Grizzlies in 2012, the team is now worth an estimated $1.5 billion.
Team: Carolina Panthers
Net Worth: $16.7 billion
The Panthers have yet to record a winning record under Tepper, who bought the team in 2018.
However, skyrocketing media deals have already brought him a sizable return on his investment: The Panthers are now worth an estimated $2.91 billion, $600 million more than Tepper’s purchase price.
Team: New York Mets
Net Worth: $17.4 billion
Under Cohen, the richest individual owner in baseball, the Mets have supplanted the Yankees as the big spenders of New York.
The Mets have the second-highest payroll in the league, at $252 million, trailing only the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Cohen’s wealth also played a role in MLB’s latest collective bargaining agreement, with a new luxury-tax tier being informally dubbed the “Cohen Tax.”
Team: Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Net Worth: $21.3 billion
Backed by early wins with Yahoo and Alibaba, to name a few, Son built a powerhouse conglomerate in SoftBank Group over the last 40 years.
In 2005, the company added baseball to its coffers, picking up the Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball.
Since then, the club has been one of the most successful in the league, winning seven Japan Series championships.
Team: Cleveland Cavaliers
Net Worth: $22 billion
A precipitous decline in Rocket Companies’ share price has cost Gilbert more than half of his fortune.
The Cavaliers have had better luck this season, with a chance to return to the NBA playoffs for the first time since LeBron James departed for Los Angeles in 2018.
Team: New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Racing, RB Leipzig
Net Worth: $27.4 billion
Mateschitz has seen modest success from his collection of soccer clubs, which includes the New York Red Bulls of MLS and RB Leipzig of the German Bundesliga.
But his crown jewel has emerged in Formula 1.
Last season, rising star Max Verstappen brought Red Bull Racing its first championship since 2013, snapping Mercedes’ streak of seven consecutive driver’s titles.
Team: Stade Rennais FC
Net Worth: $40.4 billion
Even though Pinault is still chasing Ligue 1 rivals Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain, which have collected a combined 14 championships since he bought Stade Rennais FC in 1998, the entire French soccer landscape is about to receive a major cash infusion amid Covid-19-driven financial struggles.
Private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners is reportedly investing $1.6 billion into Ligue 1’s commercial arm.
Team: Mumbai Indians
Net Worth: $90.7 billion
The Indians, who are owned by Ambani’s Reliance Industries, are the toast of the Indian Premier League, having won a record five league titles.
Ambani could be deepening his ties with the sport further as his company reportedly bids for the IPL’s media rights.
Team: Los Angeles Clippers
Net Worth: $91.4 billion
The NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, whom the former Microsoft CEO bought for a lofty $2 billion eight years ago, are now valued by Forbes at $3.3 billion.
Not a bad return. But it’s Microsoft’s stock that has really let Ballmer run up the score—its shares are up more than 600% over the same period, adding more than $65 billion to his net worth over the years.
His fortune jumped by $22.7 billion in the past year.