Michael Jordan has agreed to sell a majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets to a group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall, the team announced Friday.
Media reports, citing league sources, put the selling price at $3 billion. Jordan paid $275 million when he bought a majority stake in the team in 2010.
Plotkin acquired a minority stake in the team in 2019 and has been an alternate governor on the NBA Board of Governors since 2019. He is the founder and chief investment officer of Tallwoods Capital. Schnall is co-president of Clayton, Dubilier and Rice, where he has worked for 27 years, and has been a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks and an alternate governor on the NBA Board of Governors since 2015.
Schnall is in the process of selling his stake in the Hawks, which is expected to be completed in the next several weeks.
The buyer group will also include Chris Shumway, Dan Sundheim, Ian Loring, Dyal HomeCourt Partners, North Carolina native recording artist J. Cole and country music singer-songwriter Eric Church, and several local Charlotte investors, including Amy Levine Dawson and Damian Mills.
Jordan will retain a minority share of the team. The transaction is subject to the approval of the NBA Board of Governors. Along with the Hornets, Hornets Sports and Entertainment ownership includes the Greensboro Swarm (NBA G League) and Hornets Venom GT (NBA 2K League), as well as managing and operating Spectrum Center, each of which is included as part of the sale.
A North Carolina native, and former UNC Tar Heel player, Jordan, is a six-time NBA champion and five-time MVP. He is widely considered to be the greatest player in the history of the game. He is the league’s only Black majority owner.