Oprah, David Geffen, Larry Ellison Interested In Buying Los Angeles Clippers

[big_dog]

Source: The Chicago Tribune

Talk show host turned entertainment mogul Oprah Winfrey is in talks with billionaire media executive David Geffen and Oracle Corp CEO Larry Ellison to make a bid to buy the Los Angeles Clippers should the team become available, her spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The statement from Winfrey came a day after the National Basketball Association imposed a lifetime ban against Clippers owner Donald Sterling for racist remarks attributed to him and moved to force him to sell his team.

"The team deserves a better group of owners, who want to win. Larry would sooner die than fail. I would sooner die than fail. Larry's a sportsman, we've talked about this for a long time. Between the three of us, we have a good shot."

Forbes magazine estimates Winfrey, whose eponymous talk show was taped in Chicago, is worth nearly $3 billion, with the NBA’s Clippers worth an estimated $575 million.

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/chi-oprah-winfrey-clippers-20140430,0,7916234.story

[LiberalFighter]

1. So the value of the Clippers has dropped from $700 million to $575 million.

Nice going Sterling. How will his soon to be ex-wife use that against him?

[itsrobert]

6. i think the tribune is working with old Forbes data

The Clippers will sell for close to $1 Billion.

[Tempest]

11. Forbes data from last year's valuation.

Available on their web site.

[tularetom]

2. I believe Ellison tried to buy an NBA team a few years back but the league turned thumbs down on him

Why would they be any more inclined to approve a sale to him today?

I'd much rather see a group of former players like Magic Johnson buy the team than this bunch.

[Mosby]

3. Magic would just be the front man

He has a partnership with some billionaires who own an LLC called "Guggenheim Partners".

He does have a lot of assets himself, just not enough to buy an NBA team.

eta the LA Clipper franchise is worth about 575 million according to Forbes:

http://www.forbes.com/nba-valuations/#page:2_sort:0_direction:asc_search:

Magic's net worth is around a half a billion.

Oprah is worth close to three billion.

[Ash_F]

15. Kind of puts things in perspective how wealthy the people who run this country are.

When Magic Johnson is too poor to buy the Clippers.

[former9thward]

22. Sterling bought the team for $12 million.

So it is going to be all profit for him no matter what. The league could have cracked down on him years ago when his character became known but they looked the other way.

[1000words]

23. Reminds me of MLB and Reds owner Marge Schott

There was a piece of work.

[olddad56]

17. If Larry Ellison bought the Clippers, he would change the name from the Clippers to ...

The Clippers presented by Larry Ellison.

[AAO]

4. Oh, gee, an oracle!

[1000words]

5. L.A. is all about the Lakers

Good luck making the Clips relevant for the long term.

[Mosby]

7. Yeah, and what Cali teams are in the playoffs right now?

Not the Lakers.

[1000words]

8. As a Blazer fan, I'm giddy from the Lakers' current woes.

Last edited Wed Apr 30, 2014, 08:42 PM - Edit history (1)

Alas, it is very temporary.

[Mosby]

9. As a Suns fan

I completely agree.

[7962]

14. Dogpile! As a Hawks fan, me too! nt

[Tempest]

12. Clippers sports gear selling better than Lakers

Has been for several seasons now. Seeing bigger crowds than Lakers in Staples. I went to more Clippers games in the last couple of seasons after going to mostly Lakers games.

[olddad56]

18. why couldn't a new buyer move them out of LA?

been a couple of football teams I can think of that have moved from LA.

[1000words]

19. Certainly not out of the realm of possibilities

Your post mentioning a Seattle-based ownership bid is intriguing.

[olddad56]

20. The group from Seattle seems logical to me since they wanted to buy the Kings..

and build a new arena for them to play in. The Clippers are certainly a better team than the Kings.

[1000words]

21. And seeing as Boeing bailed, "Sonics" ain't coming back.

Seattle "Geoducks" works for me.

[olddad56]

25. Boeing hasn't exactly bailed, they still have 81,000 employees in the area.

almost half of their 169,000 total employees.

[davidpdx]

24. Plus they'd still play in the west

Gebus how many fricken teams does LA really need?

[shenmue]

10. I hope they get it

Sounds okay to me.

[olddad56]

13. i'm surprised that Paul Allen and the group from Seattle....

who wanted to buy the Sacramento Kings haven't expressed an interest in the Clippers.

[onehandle]

16. No Oprah, please. nt

[Supersedeas]

26. someone needs to rectify the plantation mentality

[zonkers]

27. WuTang.