10 NBA Owners Top 10 Figure Worth

The National Basketball Association (NBA) hosts ten team owners who are worth ten figure sums, topped by New Jersey Nets, Mikhail Prokhorov. Prokhorov is believed to have funded the club, which has been in desperate need of financial backing, with around US$250m to buy 80 per cent of the team along with 45 per cent of the Barclays Center. The injection has meant that the team will be able to push through their ambitious plans to relocate to Brooklyn, New York.

Pokhorov, a former Russian basketball player himself, earned his fortune through metal and is currently worth $13.4bn, the highest in the league. A close second is Microsoft billionaire and owner of the Portland Trail Blazers, Paul Allen who is worth $12.7bn. Allen is funding a $13m upgrade of the teams home stadium, the Rose Garden.

Completing the top five wealthiest owners list for the league are Philip Anschutz, owner of the LA Lakers ($7bn), Orlando Magic’s Richard DeVos ($4.3bn) and Miami Heat’s Micky Arison ($4.1bn). Arison recently parted with around $100m to entice the league’s highest profile player, LeBron James.

The figures were released by Forbes in a top 10 list, to read the full story visit the site here – http://www.forbes.com/2010/12/16/lakers-nets-blazers-magic-business-sports-nba-billionaires.html?partner=alerts