The Godfather of Basketball

After several years of development, Alibaba has become a domestic commercial giant with a market value of more than 200 billion US dollars and an annual profit of more than 20 billion US dollars.

Tang Tian invested 2.5 million in Alibaba at the beginning, and then followed up one after another. However, due to the dilution of shares and the buyback by Boss Ma, his shares in Alibaba are only about 2%, but this is the share, if he sells it , It's enough to buy the Clippers.

It's just that this is obviously not worthwhile, and even compared to the NBA, this 2% stake is more valuable.

What he has to do now is to find someone who is willing to pay.

Tang Tian had met Boss Ma many times before, and it was not difficult to meet Boss Ma as a shareholder. Two days after returning to China, the two met at the private teahouse in Ali's headquarters.

An assistant makes tea, and the two sit and taste tea across the coffee table. The picture is really Chinese.

"You want me to form a consortium to buy the NBA Clippers?" Boss Ma took a sip of tea, put down his cup and looked at Tang Tian.

Although he didn't know basketball and had little contact with it, after Tang Tian explained the ins and outs of the matter clearly, he probably knew it.

"Yes, the NBA has developed rapidly in the past few years. Ten years ago, the value of these teams was still 100 million or 200 million. Look at the recent Warriors. They are all worth 1 billion. If you invest in it, the appreciation will still be very fast. .” Tang Tian said.

Don't look at NBA teams worth one billion or two billion. For the current boss Ma, it's just a matter of raising the whole money.

"America, would you like us to buy it?" Boss Ma seemed to be thinking about something else.

"This shouldn't be a big problem. Look at Prokhorov before. He is a Russian. He also bought the Nets in his own name." Tang Tian explained.

In the NBA, there is a change of owners. In addition to having enough money, there is also the need for the consent of other team owners. In this regard, the situation of Boss Ma and Prokhorov is actually similar.

"I need time to think about it. After all, I don't know much about what you said, but I will give you an answer as soon as possible." At the end of the chat, Boss Ma did not give a clear answer.

"By the way, are you interested in selling your 2% shares? I can buy them back at a higher value than the market." Boss Ma suddenly said.

"I still want to ride on Ali's big boat." Tang Tian said with a smile, but he veiledly refused.

Boss Ma smiled and didn't ask any further questions.

The negotiation with Boss Ma did not make any substantial progress, so Tang Tian could only return to the United States temporarily.

At this time, in the United States, the Clippers have attracted a large number of bidders.

The previous stock transactions between the Kings and the Warriors made investing in the NBA look like a sure-fire business, and the Clippers are in Los Angeles, and their value and potential are significantly greater than the previous two.

"Boxing champion" Floyd Mayweather, "golden boy" Oscar De La Hoya, business tycoon David Geffen, Sterling's friend Anthony Ressler, etc. There are endless bidders.

Just looking at this list, you know that this is definitely going to be a tragic bidding war.

The pressure from the league is still increasing. When all parties and even the government are extremely resistant to Sterling, they hope that the Clippers can be sold in the shortest possible time.

With that pressure, bidders are bidding up against each other.

The original valuation of the Clippers was only 580 million U.S. dollars, but in just a few days, it has soared to 1 billion U.S. dollars in an instant, and the magnitude of the increase shocked everyone in the industry.

At this critical moment, Microsoft giant Steve Ballmer also announced his bid to join the Clippers, and what he said when he joined made other competitors tremble: I will win the Clippers , no matter what the cost, I love this movement.

Ballmer's remarks are full of domineering, and he does have this confidence. You must know that his personal worth is as high as 30 billion U.S. dollars, which is not available to most people.

As the bidding continued to rise, Methaway, De La Hoya and others withdrew one after another, and the bidding became a matter between David Geffen, Anthony Ressler and Ballmer.

At this moment, Tang Tian finally got the news he wanted, and Boss Ma was willing to join him in bidding for the Clippers.

Boss Ma's joining immediately caused an uproar in the alliance. If you really want to take personal assets as an example, Boss Ma's worth is close to 20 billion.

The price of the Clippers is still climbing.

1.1 billion, 1.3 billion, 1.5 billion, 1.6 billion...

When the price reached 1.7 billion, Ressler and Geffen withdrew one after another. On the one hand, their consortium had reached the limit they could bear. of.

The new labor-management agreement and the Clippers' new TV contract are about to be signed, making the Clippers' piece of cake very attractive, but to be honest, the team's one-year profit is also limited. In other words, you If you spend so much money, it will take more than ten years to pay back. Most people will not do it.

Ever since, this competition seems to have become a war between Boss Ma and Ballmer in the end.

1.7 billion, 1.8 billion, 1.82 billion, 1.85 billion, 1.9 billion...

It was like an auction, with both sides constantly calling for prices.

Finally, after the price of the Clippers reached 2 billion, and Ballmer had no intention of stopping, Boss Ma called Tang Tian.

"I think this price is no longer suitable for investment. If you are short of money, I can repurchase your shares so that you can continue to bid with Ballmer, but I think he should be determined to win." Boss Ma said bluntly Bai, told Tang Tian everything.

So far, Tang Tian has done everything he can do. In fact, without Ballmer, the Clippers have already been taken by him and Boss Ma, but Ballmer seems to be really interested in basketball. At the end of the shopping, they still win or lose.

Still, the money is not enough!

In the end, Boss Ma also announced the withdrawal of his consortium, and Ballmer successfully bought the Clippers for 2 billion.

The price is exactly the same as in the previous life.

In fact, if it wasn't for Boss Ma's intervention, the price might be between 1.7 billion and 1.8 billion, which is also in line with the price that was sold a year earlier than in the previous life.

It’s just that, as Boss Ma said to Tang Tian on the phone, Ballmer’s worth is too high, and this amount of money is an investment for him, but he wants to invest, and he wants to win it, unless Buffett, who did not donate before Bill Gates came out, otherwise no one would be able to bid him.

Tang Tian finally failed.

After all, the business field is not the basketball court he belongs to. If he wants to become fat with one bite, he needs to exercise more to improve his teeth.

But after the Clippers were officially bought by Ballmer, many bosses in the league couldn't bear it anymore.

You must know that Sterling only spent 12.4 million to buy the Clippers 30 years ago, which is nearly 20 times more!

And even before the sale, the Clippers' valuation was only 580 million!

The most direct signal here is that selling the team now is a great time to reap wealth!