Michael Jordan To Sell Majority Ownership In Charlotte Hornets

Michael Jordan, a legendary player in the game of basketball, has formally agreed to sell his ownership interest in the Charlotte Hornets, capping a 13-year tenure as the team’s majority owner.

Jordan agreed to sell his majority ownership interest in the Charlotte Hornets to a consortium headed by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall, according to a statement released by Hornets Sports & Entertainment on Friday, June 16.

Plotkin, who purchased a small ownership share in the team in 2019, has served as an alternate governor on the NBA Board of Governors since that year. He also serves as the company’s founder and chief investment officer.

Schnall is a large minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks and an alternate governor on the NBA Board of Governors since 2015, according to the Hornets. He also serves as co-president of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC, where he has spent the past 27 years working.

According to representatives of the Hornets, Schnall is in the process of selling his ownership stake in the Hawks, and the transaction should be finished in the upcoming weeks.

The buyer group will also include local Charlotte investors Damian Mills and Amy Levine Dawson, as well as Chris Shumway, Dan Sundheim, Ian Loring, Dyal HomeCourt Partners, and recording artists J. Cole and Eric Church, all of whom are from North Carolina.

Michael Jordan will continue to own a minority part in the Charlotte Hornets, which was noted when news of his early negotiations to sell his ownership stake in the organization leaked earlier this year.

In March 2010, when the team was still known as the Charlotte Bobcats, and after four years as a member of the franchise’s ownership group, the NBA great became the team’s majority owner. He was the first ex-player to acquire a majority stake in an NBA team.

The NBA Board of Governors must, however, approve the deal for it to go through.