Los Angeles Clippers chairman Steve Ballmer is paying $400 million in cash to buy the Forum arena from the Madison Square Garden Company, the LA Times reported Tuesday.
The deal allows Ballmer, the former Microsoft CEO who paid $2 billion to buy the Clippers in 2014, to move forward with plans to build a new arena for the NBA franchise.
Ballmer formed a new company with Clippers vice chairman Dennis Wong called CAPSS LLC to make the purchase, which ends a long legal battle with MSG. It will allow the Clippers to play in their own building, rather than sharing with the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center. There are no plans to tear down the Forum, the LA Times reported.
“This is an unprecedented time, but we believe in our collective future,” Ballmer said in a statement. “We are committed to our investment in the City of Inglewood, which will be good for the community, the Clippers, and our fans.”
For those holding out hope that Ballmer would move the Clippers to Seattle — sorry.
That should end – once and for all – the speculation that Ballmer would move the Clippers to Seattle.
— Chris Daniels (@ChrisDaniels5) March 24, 2020
Ballmer is currently ranked No. 9 on Forbes’ richest-person list with a net worth of $51.4 billion. He and his wife Connie recently donated $3 million for a COVID-19 Response Fund in Seattle, and also gave $1 million to LA organizations.
