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According to reports by prominent news outlets such as ESPN, Basketball legend and billionaire businessman Michael Jordan has agreed to sell his controlling share in the Charlotte Hornets to a group managed by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall for around $3 billion. Jordan’s 13-year reign as the primary owner will end with the purchase.
Schnall, a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks, and Plotkin, a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, will become the franchise’s governors once the NBA’s vetting and approval process is completed. Jordan will continue to oversee basketball operations until the NBA draft on Thursday and the opening of free agency on July 1.
Jordan will keep a minority share in the team and remain involved when the sale is completed.
Jordan, a six-time NBA champion and five-time MVP, is widely regarded as the game’s best player ever and the league’s only Black majority owner. In 2010, Jordan paid $275 million for a majority ownership in the franchise.
Michael Jordan sold a major minority ownership to Plotkin, founder and chief investment officer of Melvin Capital, and Daniel Sundheim, founder and chief investment officer of D1 Capital, in 2020. Sundheim is thought to be part of the group buying the Hornets.
Schnall, a co-president at New York-based private equity company Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, was part of a group that bought the Hawks for $850 million in 2015, along with principal owner Tony Ressler and Grant Hill.
The Hornets have the number-two draft pick after a 27-55 season marred by injuries to most of the team’s key players.
Forbes presently estimates Jordan’s net worth at $2 billion. His net worth would get a shot in the arm when the deal is finalized.
