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Michael Jordan exits Charlotte Hornets as $3 billion sale closes after 13-year run
The league's only player-turned-majority-owner departs with expansion talk heating up and new buyers paying record multiples.
Sports Edge deskSports Edge · Huang GoodmanSource: CBS Sports ↗
In plain words
Jordan's **10.9x** return in thirteen years benchmarks what patient capital earns holding NBA franchises through a media-rights cycle and expansion wave.
$3 billion
sale officially closed
10.9x
return before taxes in thirteen years
$4 billion
in February 2023
$238 million
in the 2022-23 campaign
Michael Jordan's tenure as majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets ended this week when the franchise's $3 billion sale officially closed. Jordan bought the team in 2010 for roughly $275 million, a 10.9x return before taxes in thirteen years. The sale marks the first time an NBA majority ownership stake changed hands since Mat Ishbia bought the Phoenix Suns for $4 billion in February 2023.
The buyer group, led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall, paid $3 billion for a franchise that ranked 27th in revenue among the league's 30 teams last season. Charlotte generated $238 million in the 2022-23 campaign, roughly 60% of what the Knicks produced. The multiple reflects expansion fever more than operating performance. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has publicly discussed adding two franchises by 2027, which would trigger a one-time distribution of roughly $400-500 million per existing owner. Plotkin and Schnall are buying the last transferable seat before that check gets cut.
Jordan retains a small minority stake, exact percentage undisclosed. He joins a short list of former majority owners who stayed in cap tables post-exit: Mark Cuban kept 8% of the Mavericks after selling to Miriam Adelson's family for $3.5 billion in December 2023. The retained slice preserves access—Jordan can still call Silver directly, still walk into governors meetings, still pitch a sneaker deal to a draft pick's camp before Nike's formal window opens. The Hornets were never Jordan's best financial asset; his Nike royalty stream reportedly exceeds $150 million annually. The team was the governor's pass.
Charlotte's on-court product hasn't justified the valuation. The franchise made the playoffs twice in Jordan's thirteen seasons, winning zero series. Average attendance dropped from 17,137 in 2016-17 to 15,448 last season, 26th in the league. LaMelo Ball is the first homegrown All-Star since Jordan drafted him third overall in 2020, but Ball has missed 95 games over the past two seasons. The front office turned over twice. Charles Lee, hired from Boston as head coach in June, is the team's fifth coach since 2018.
The sale's timing matters for the city. Charlotte lost the All-Star Game twice—once to bathroom-bill politics in 2017, once to COVID in 2020. The league awarded the city the 2027 game as reconciliation. Plotkin and Schnall inherit a $275 million arena renovation package approved by the city council in June, split evenly between public and private funding. Construction begins in April 2025. The new owners will host All-Star Weekend in a half-finished building, then spend the following summer managing displaced season-ticket holders and suite revenue while workers install LED boards and club seating.
Jordan's exit removes the last player-owner from major American sports. He bought in when the team was called the Bobcats, rebranded to Hornets in 2014, and generated more headlines for his draft misses—drafting Frank Kaminsky over Devin Booker, Miles Bridges four spots before Shai Gilgeous-Alexander—than his wins. His courtside appearances drew cameras. His patience with losing drew questions. The new owners paid $3 billion for a team that hasn't won a playoff game since 2016, which tells you everything about where franchise valuations are heading. Expansion applications are due in Q2 2025. Seattle and Las Vegas are clearing arena sites.
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