THIS week, Forbes released their annual list of the world’s billionaires.
It was a strange time to release the list, with the sudden, worldwide economic downturn caused by COVID-19 — a fact acknowledged by the financial publication.
“The richest people on Earth are not immune to the coronavirus. As the pandemic tightened its grip on Europe and America, global equity markets imploded, tanking many fortunes,” it wrote by way of introduction.
From March 6 to March 18 (their internal cut-off date), 226 billionaires fell off the list. “Of the billionaires who remain, 51% are poorer than they were last year,” Forbes continued.
Among the world's billionaires are many sports team owners.
Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer topped the list of richest sports team owners, unseating last year’s Mukesh Ambani, owner of cricket team Mumbai Indians.
He has a net worth of $52.7 billion. Ballmer, who bought the Clippers in 2014 and helped remodel the LA also-rans into a team attractive enough for Kawhi Leonard, is also the 11th richest person in the world overall.
Of course, the bulk of his wealth doesn’t come from Lob City, says Forbes. He is a former CEO of Microsoft and still holds an enormous amount of stock in the software company.
That’s the case with the other sports team owners in their list, who most often have financial interests outside their teams. This group, wrote Forbes, “fared better than most people over the past 12 months, with their average net worth down $15 billion, or just 4%.”
Here’s the full list of the 10 richest sports team owners:
#1
Steve Ballmer
Los Angeles Clippers
Net worth: $52.7 billion (1 year change: +28%)
Source of wealth: Microsoft
#2
Mukesh Ambani
Mumbai Indians
Net worth: $36.8 billion (1 year change: -26%)
Source of wealth: petrochemicals, oil, gas
#3
Francois Pinault + family
Stad Rennais FC
Net worth: $27 billion (1 year change: -9%)
Source of wealth: luxury goods
#4
Dietrich Mateschitz
New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Alphatauri
Net worth: $16.5 billion (1 year change: -13%)
Source of wealth: Red Bull
#5
Hasso Plattner + family
San Jose Sharks
Net worth: $12.4 billion (1 year change: -8%)
Source of wealth: software
#6
David Tepper
Carolina Panthers
Net worth: $12 billion (1 year change: +3%)
Source of wealth: hedge funds
#7
Roman Abramovich
Chelsea FC
Net worth: $11.3 billion (1 year change: -9%)
Source of wealth: steel, investments
#8
Philip Anschutz
Los Angeles Kings, LA Galaxy
Net worth: $11 billion (1 year change: +1%)
Source of wealth: investments
#9 and #10 (tie)
Stanley Kroenke
Arsenal, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Rams, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids
Net worth: $10 billion (1 year change: +15%)
Source of wealth: sports, real estate
#9 and #10 (tie)
Joseph Tsai
Brooklyn Nets
Net worth: $10 billion (1 year change: +5%)
Source of wealth: e-commerce
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