ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that billionaire mortgage lender Mat Ishbia is closing on the purchase of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury from Robert Sarver.
According to Wojnarowski, the sale will be “in the neighborhood” of $4 billion.
As the youngest owner of an NBA team, Ishbia, 42, is chairman and CEO of mortgage lender United Wholesale Mortgage.
The Phoenix Suns and Mercury will be sold by Robert Sarver
According to Forbes.com, he has a net worth of $5.1 billion this year.
Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that Ishbia’s brother Justin will also join the incoming ownership group.
According to Forbes, Justin Ishbia is the founder of private equity firm Shore Capital and an investor in United Wholesale Mortgage, founded by Jeff Ishbia, the brothers’ father.
In 1999-2001, Ishbia played with former Suns guard Jason Richardson at Michigan State and won the national championship.
Ishbia played 48 games in college, averaging 0.6 points and 0.3 assists per game.
After being suspended and fined by the NBA for racist language, misogyny and bullying in the workplace, Sarver announced in September that he will sell the organization.
He expected to reflect and improve during a one-year suspension from the team, but the “unforgiving climate” made it clear a return would not be possible.
In September, the NBA suspended Sarver for one year and fined him $10 million for allegations that he used racist and misogynistic language at work.
If Sarver returns, PayPal will not renew its partnership with the Suns – which owns ad space on the team jersey.
A Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz investigation of 320 individuals and more than 80,000 documents concluded that Sarver violated common workplace standards, including “racially insensitive language, unequal treatment of female employees, sexist statements and conduct, and harsh treatment of employees that sometimes constituted bullying.”
According to Wachtell, Lipton Rosen & Katz, the investigation does not confirm that Sarver’s conduct was motivated by racial or gender animus.
