03 August 2023 , 15:30
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Michael Jordan being an owner of an NBA franchise has officially come to an end.
Jordan had been owner of his hometown Charlotte Hornets for the past 13 years, but has now finalised a deal to sell the franchise. The new owners are a group led by Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin, which has now been made official.
The NBA icon and basketball Hall of Famer initially purchased the Hornets for $275 million (£216.2m) in 2010 and, despite very little on-court success, they are now worth an eye-watering $3 billion (£2.36bn).
Schnall has previous NBA experience of owning a team, after previously being a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks.
In a statement by the new owners, they said: "We want to thank Michael for this opportunity, as well as his support throughout this process.
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"During his ownership, he brought stability to the Hornets franchise, achieved many business milestones, reconnected and reinvested in the Charlotte community and has the organization positioned for greater success. We look forward to building upon this success in the years to come."
The Hornets have statistically been one of the worst teams in the NBA since Jordan had taken over, consistently struggling to make the playoffs with a number of critical errors in the draft. While being unpopular to a proportion of Charlotte fans, Jordan did make the favourable decision to change the name of the franchise - back to the Hornets after being named the 'Charlotte Bobcats'.
Michael Jordan had been at a number of Hornets games in recent years (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)They are coming off the back of another disappointing season, with a 27-55 record as they missed the post-season once again. But the new owners will be boosted by the acquisition of second overall pick Brandon Miller, the forward from Alabama forming an intriguing partnership with star point guard LaMelo Ball.
Jordan sold a significant minority stake to Plotkin in 2020, with him and Schnall now becoming majority owners. Widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all-time, Jordan has made an incredible amount of money away from the court after his deal with Nike - with his own off-brand Jordan being hugely successful to this deal.
His acquisition of the Hornets in 2010 boosted his net worth, with the sale set to take him well over the billion mark. Jordan also owns a NASCAR team, buying into the sport in 2020 with 23XI Racing, who have Bubba Wallace on their books.