Adrian Wojnarowski | Veteran NBA InsiderReading: 3 min.
Goat Debate: MJ or LeBron?
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Michael Jordan has agreed to sell his majority stake Charlotte Hornets to the team led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall for a valuation of approximately $3 billion, according to league sources. The transaction ends Jordan’s 13 years as majority owner.
Schnall, a minority owner Atlanta Hawks, and Plotkin, the Hornets’ minority owner, will become franchise governors once the NBA completes its vetting process. Jordan will continue to oversee basketball operations until next Thursday’s NBA draft and the start of free agency on July 1.
Once the sale is complete, Jordan is expected to retain a minority stake and remain in ownership, the sources said.
A six-time NBA champion and five-time MVP, Jordan is widely regarded as the greatest player in the history of the game and remains the league’s only black majority owner. Jordan paid $275 million for a majority stake in the franchise in 2010.
Jordan sold significant minority stakes in 2020 to Plotkin, founder and chief investment officer of Melvin Capital, and Daniel Sundheim, founder and chief investment officer of D1 Capital; Sources said Sundheim is part of a group to buy the Hornets.
Schnall, co-chairman of the private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in New York, was part of a group including majority owner Tony Ressler and Grant Hill that bought the Hawks in 2015 for $850 million.
After an injury-plagued season for most of the team’s leading players that resulted in a 27-55 record, the Hornets have the No. 2 pick in Thursday’s NBA draft.
