Net Worth: $2.4 billion Owns: LA Chargers Formerly the majority owner of the LA Chargers, the billionaire, who passed at age 95 in 2018, next up on our list is Alex Spanos. Born in 1923 in Stockton, California, the former billionaire’s family and estate control the well-known team today. Another real-estate mogul, his founding of A.G. Spanos Companies proved extremely successful, providing him with the capital to purchase the LA Chargers.
Spanos, who was in his early 60s at the time, purchased the team in 1984 – his 60% share saw him take the controlling interest, for a sweet $43.8 million. It seems pretty cheap to us, for a famous team, that is. Today, The Chargers are worth almost $2.2 billion!
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.
Philip Anschutz
Net Worth: $11.1 billion Owns: LA Lakers, LA Kings American billionaire businessman Philip Anschutz turns 80 this December. And we’re sure it’s going to be a big celebration, given the fact he’s worth a whopping $11.1 billion as per Forbes’ ranking in April 2019. Earning his money in a variety of businesses, Anschutz has stakes in energy, railroads, real estate, sports, newspapers, movies, theaters, arenas, and music. Among his sports investments, he owns the LA Lakers and the LA Kings. You know, small investments.
His father owned Circle A, an oil drilling company, which was extremely successful in Wyoming. The profits he then invested in stocks, real estate, and railroads and became something of a business magnate. Fun fact: he owns the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival!
Mikhail Prokhorov
Net Worth: $9.8 billion Former Owner: Brooklyn Nets The billionaire giant (standing at 6 ft 9 in.), Mikhail Prokhorov is a Russian businessman who, after working in the financial sector, went on to become one of Russia’s leading industrialists. His stakes in major multinational corporations in the precious metals sector have accrued him a serious fortune.
Born in Moscow in 1965, he ran Norilsk Nickel, which was the largest producer of palladium and nickel in the world. Playing leapfrog in a way, he used Interros to purchase Norilsk, with a share that’s worth over $7 billion. Fun fact: after he purchased the Nets, he vowed to get married if the Nets hadn’t won the NBA championship within five years. It didn’t really work out. In fact, he actually just recently sold the Nets to Joe Tsai of Ali Baba for $3.5 billion.
Robert Nutting
Net Worth: $1.1 billion Owns: Pittsburgh Pirates Robert Nutting is the sixth owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, joining a prestigiously short line-up of owners. Nicknamed “Bottom Line Bob”, Nutting’s moniker is owing to the fact that he has a tendency to put profit first, over product differentiation. Interesting strategy – but hey, with his net worth, something’s working!
Aside from owning the Pirates, Nutting is the CEO of media and communications company, Ogden Newspapers, Inc. In addition to being a media man and the tenth-richest team owner in all of MLB, he also owns the ski resort Seven Springs Mountain Resort. Half your luck!