Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan answers a question during a news conference at Time Warner Cable Arena on October 28, 2014 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Jeff Sinner | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
Basketball legend Michael Jordan has agreed to sell his majority stake in the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets to wealthy investor Gabe Plotkin and Jordan representative Rick Schnell Confirmed Friday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. As part of the deal, Jordan will retain a minority stake in the team.
Jordan bought a majority stake in the Hornets in 2010 for $275 million. Previously, he held a minority stake in the team.
Led by six-time NBA champion Jordan, the Hornets have struggled and made the playoffs just twice.
Plotkin acquired a minority stake in the Hornets in 2019 and serves as an alternate governor on the NBA board. He is the founder of investment management firm Tallwoods Capital.
Schnell is co-president of the private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, where he worked for 27 years. He has been a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks since 2015 and is an alternate member of the NBA board of directors.
He is in the process of selling his Eagles investment, which is expected to be completed in the next few weeks.
Billionaire Dan Sundheim, owner of D1 Capital, and North Carolina musicians J. Cole and Eric Church were also among the buyers.
The sale includes the Hornets Sports & Entertainment Group’s other assets, including their G League team Greensboro Swarm, their esports team Hornets Venom GT, and the management and operation of the Spectrum Center, home of the Hornets.
The Hornets trade needs to be approved by the NBA Board of Governors.
Forbes values the Hornets at $1.7 billion, ranking them 27th out of 30 teams.
