Net Worth: $5.9 billion Owns: Leicester City F.C. Khun Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha is a Thai business tycoon, and yes, we’re glad we don’t have to pronounce his name and can just spell it out. The CEO of King Power company, the Bangkok-born billionaire was born into money and took over the family business when his father tragically passed in an unfortunate helicopter accident recently.
As well as inheriting the company and the $6 billion along with it, he also got his father’s stake in Leicester City F.C., as well as OH Leuven. The reason King Power is so huge is because it is a main retail group in Thailand, founded by Aiyawatt’s father. Fun fact: the retail tycoon is actually an ordained monk!
Fred Wilpon
Net Worth: $500 million Owns: The New York Mets (MLB) It seems that real estate development and having a lot of money go hand in hand. The people with that sort of money aren’t just fans of a sports team, they own one. Now that’s when you know you’re in the big leagues. Literally. The soon-to-be 83-year-old businessman Fred Wilpon is one of these people. And he is the main shareholder of one of the most instantly recognizable sports teams in the world: the New York Mets.
Currently, his son Jeff serves as the team's COO – we have no doubt that Fred gets on down to the matches when he can though! But with great money and responsibility, there can be some illicit dealings – poor Wilpon got caught up in the now-legendary Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme in 2008, which saw a massive case of stock and securities fraud. It cost him a crazy $700 million, which impacted the Mets themselves.
Stephen Ross
Net Worth: $10.3 billion Owns: Miami Dolphins The owner of the Miami Dolphins NFL team clearly doesn’t like to share. We can only imagine the type of child he was in the sandbox. Why are we being so judgy? Well, Ross doesn’t just part own the Dolphins, he owns 95% of them! The wealthy real estate developer has a passion for the team, so when the time came around, he pounced.
Anyhow, the man behind The Related Companies, a global real estate firm founded in 1972, has decided that between the NFL and the Drone Racing League, sport is where he wants to invest his “fun” money. The University of Michigan graduate is very educated, holding both a J.D and LLM. Fun fact: he owns Hard Rock Stadium, and his company built the Time Warner Center.
Richard DeVos
Net Worth: $5.1 billion Owns: Orlando Magic Michigan-born Richard Devos co-founded Amway. The now-owner of NBA’s Orlando Magic helped to start up the multi-level-marketing company, which sells an extensive range of health, beauty, and miscellaneous products. The company restructured in 2000 and took on a new branding identity, emerging as Alticor.
In the top 100 of the wealthiest in the United States, we’re sure his four kids are chuffed that they’ll always get courtside seats to matches at the NBA. They might even give influencer models like the Kardashians and the Hadids a wave!
Steve Ballmer
Net Worth: $52.1 billion Owns: L.A. Clippers (NBA) Anyone who’s involved with a company like Microsoft is sure to be earning nicely. Let alone being at the helm of the ship, as the CEO of the IT corporation; and to be leading Microsoft for almost 15 years, you’d accrue a hefty sum along the way. One of the top 20 wealthiest people in the world, the Detroit-born Ballmer was actually a Stanford drop out. After some groundwork, he became the president of Microsoft after Gates stepped down. He was in fact, Gates’ choice to succeed him!
What with his multitude of investments, why not add a sports team to the mix? For Ballmer, $2 billion was a small-ish investment, and hey, for the L.A. Clippers, if you’ve got some spare change lying around, why not? It seems that the fans are enjoying Ballmer’s management and direction for the NBA team.