Now a minority stakeholder, Michael Jordan sells his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets for approximately $3 billion in value.
Jordan bought his majority stake at $275 million back in 2010 and is now selling it to a group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall. This ends Jordan’s 13-year run as the major stake owner of the franchise.
The former six-time NBA champion and five-time MVP has been the league’s only black majority owner, but will now be only a minority shareholder once the transaction is approved. Jordan will still continue to oversee basketball operations through Thursday’s NBA draft on June 22 and the start of free agency on July 1.
The new franchise’s governors have had prior experience with owning minor shares of this team or other teams, as Schnall is a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks. He is also the co-president at private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in New York, and was part of a group including majority owner Tony Ressler and Grant Hill, obtaining the Hawks in 2015 for $850 million.
Jordan sold a significant minority stake to Plotkin, founder and chief investment officer of Melvin Capital, and Daniel Sundheim, founder and CIO of D1 Capital, in 2020, and Sundheim is part of the group purchasing the Hornets, sources said.
The Hornets did not have a great season last year, as Charlotte went 27-55 in an injury-bugged year for their best players. However, the new majority owners will have a team that currently has a top-two pick in this year’s NBA Draft this Thursday night, which could be between Alabama forward Brandon Miller and G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson.
