Larry Ellison is worth a reported $41 billion. In 2010 he failed to buy the Golden State Warriors. Now he wants the Sacramento Kings.
Ellison has stepped in with a last minute with a possible counter offer to buy the Sacramento Kings. Previous reports had the Kings being sold to a Seattle group and moving north.
News of Ellison’s involvement could cause problems for the Seattle group simply because of how much money the Silicon Valley mogul has. In theory he could outbid almost any offer.
The Sacramento Bee broke the story about Ellison. According to the publication Ellison is meeting with Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson about the city’s situation with the team.
To complicate things more for Seattle, Kings minority owner Bob Cook is claiming the Maloofs (the Kings’ majority owners), have unfairly shut limited partners out of bidding for the team.
The hope for the city of Sacramento and Cook, is to be able to present the NBA with a competing bid that would derail the current sale to Seattle.
Ellison’s camp declined comment. The Sacramento mayor’s office released this statement:
“Out of respect for the private nature of these conversations, we are not commenting on any of the ongoing discussions with potential equity partners, real or imagined.”
Don Fitzgerald, attorney for minority owner David Flemmer says:
“We feel our rights are being trodden upon. If they’re trying to bypass (the limited partners) on the deal with Seattle, we’re going to have issues.”
Another Bay Area group working independently of Larry Ellison is planning to make an offer to buy the team.
All this could spell trouble for the high powered Seattle group that was hoping to move the Kings to Seattle and bring the Supersonics back to a city rich in sports history.
What do you think? Will the Kings move to Seattle or stay in Sacramento?
[image via drserg / Shutterstock.com ]
