It’s tricky owning an NBA franchise in times like these. Fans all around the world dream about one day hitting it big and being able to buy an NBA team. It turns out it would take a lot more than a few million dollars to achieve that goal. What many fans don’t realize is it takes a few billion dollars and yea that’s billion with a capital B. Are all NBA owners billionaires, let’s find out.

The NBA has become the forefront and leader among sports leagues over the past decade surpassing the NFL in page likes on Facebook by over 22 million fans. This incredible powerhouse has become a breeding ground for private equity and tech billionaires to invest at escalating purchasing prices. Tossing over a couple billion dollars for a team that hands out great returns the league has offered in recent years but also to rub shoulders with the celebrities who dock the courtside seats at basketball games, as well as elite players.

The financial prospects for NBA teams surged after the league’s TV contract with TNT and ESPN tripled in value and the new collective bargaining agreement with players reduced player costs as a percentage of revenue. The international potential is the strongest among the U.S. sports leagues

There are now 22 billionaires who own at least 20% of an NBA team, not including those teams owned by big corporations like Madison Square Garden and Rogers Communications, and smaller investors like Patrick Soon-Shiong, Michael Rubin, and Mark Stevens. The richest among current owners is former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who bought the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion in 2014. The combined 22 are worth a combined $141 billion.

Here is a look at the NBA’s 20 richest billionaire owners.

Owner, Team, Net Worth 

1. Steve Ballmer (Los Angeles Clippers): $51.4 billion

Ballmer scored a huge win this week for his dream of building a new arena. He bought the Forum for $400 million from the Madison Square Garden Company, which tried to block a new Clippers arena near the Forum in Inglewood, California.

2. Philip Anschutz (Los Angeles Lakers): $11.2 billion

Anschutz owns one-third of the Lakers, plus the arena in which they play, the Staples Center, in addition to the NHL’s Kings.

3. Stanley Kroenke (Denver Nuggets): $10 billion

The real estate and sports mogul owns teams in the NBA, the NHL, the NFL, MLS, and the Premier League.

4. Joseph Tsai (Brooklyn Nets): $9.9 billion

The co-founder of Alibaba Group completed his purchase of the Nets last year for $2.3 billion and bought the Barclays Center for an additional $1 billion.

5. Robert Pera (Memphis Grizzlies): $7.1 billion

Pera owns nearly three-quarters of wireless equipment maker Ubiquiti Networks. He was the lead investor in the Grizzlies purchase in 2012.

6. Daniel Gilbert (Cleveland Cavaliers): $6.2 billion

Gilbert made his first fortune from Quicken Loans, the largest online mortgage lender, which he co-founded in 1985 at 22 years old.

7. Tom Gores (Detroit Pistons): $5.7 billion

Gores and his brother Alec are both private equity billionaires. The Pistons opened a new $90 million headquarters and training facility in September.

8. Micky Arison (Miami Heat): $5.3 billion

Arison’s net worth plummeted 33% over the past six weeks with the collapse in the stock price of Carnival Corp. The world’s largest cruise ship operator was founded by Arison’s father in 1972.

9. Tilman Fertitta (Houston Rockets): $4.4 billion

Fertitta furloughed roughly 40,000 employees at his casino and restaurant empire to curb the economic impact caused by coronavirus-induced shutdowns. His fortune is derived from his ownership of the Golden Nugget Casinos and Landry’s, a Texas-based restaurant and entertainment company.

10. Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks): $4.3 billion

Cuban was one of the first sports team owners to commit to paying hourly arena workers for games missed during the coronavirus crisis. He’s invested more than $20 million as a “shark” on ABC’s popular Shark Tank show.

11. Joshua Harris (Philadelphia 76ers): $3.7 billion

Harris co-founded private equity powerhouse Apollo Global Management in 1990 with fellow billionaires Leon Black and Marc Rowan. He remains a managing director there.

12. Gayle Benson (New Orleans Pelicans): $3.2 billion

Benson inherited the Pelicans and the NFL’s Saints when her husband, Tom, died in 2018.

13. Glen Taylor (Minnesota Timberwolves): $2.8 billion

His printing firm, Taylor Corp., generates more than $2 billion in revenue annually. Taylor also owns stakes in Minnesota’s MLS and WNBA teams.

14. Herb Simon (Indiana Pacers): $2.6 billion

The real estate mogul bought the Pacers with his since-deceased brother, Melvin, in 1983, for $10.5 million. Simon Property Group is one of the world’s largest real estate investment trusts, with 206 properties in the U.S.

15. Antony Ressler (Atlanta Hawks): $2.4 billion

Ressler cofounded private equity firm Ares Management in 1997. He owns a small piece of the Milwaukee Brewers, in addition to his controlling stake in the Hawks.

16. Michael Jordan (Charlotte Hornets): $2.1 billion

The NBA’s GOAT sold a minority stake in the Hornets in September in a deal that valued the team at $1.5 billion. Nike pays Jordan more than $100 million annually based on growing sales for the company’s Jordan Brand.

17. Marc Lasry (Milwaukee Bucks): $1.8 billion

Lastly, a hedge fund titan, joined Wes Edens to buy the Bucks in 2014 for $550 million. He was born in Morocco and moved to the U.S. at age 7 with his family.

18. Gail Miller (Utah Jazz): $1.7 billion

Miller transferred ownership of the Jazz in 2017 to a family legacy trust to deter her heirs from selling or moving the team. Gail and her since-deceased husband, Larry, bought the team for $22 million in 1986.

19. Jerry Reinsdorf (Chicago Bulls): $1.5 billion

Reinsdorf led a group of investors who bought a controlling stake in the Bulls for $9.2 million in 1985. Good timing. It was one year after the team drafted Michael Jordan, who led the Bulls to six NBA titles. The team is now worth $3.2 billion.

20. Theodore Leonsis (Washington Wizards): $1.4 billion

Leonsis initially built his fortune as a senior executive at AOL, before investing in sports teams like the Wizards and the NHL’s Capitals.

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