The high 20 homeowners on The Forbes 400 are price $607 billion, up 20% from 2024. And with the cutoff rising to $10.1 billion, the membership is extra unique than ever.


Over the previous three years, Henry Samueli has seen his fortune greater than quadruple, from an estimated $6.7 billion in 2022 to $27.7 billion in the present day. He can thank his Anaheim Ducks for a few of that progress: The NHL franchise, which he purchased for $70 million in 2005, has appreciated practically 1,800% throughout his tenure as proprietor, to $1.3 billion.

Samueli has gotten a far larger increase off the ice, nevertheless.

The chairman and cofounder of chipmaker Broadcom, Samueli has reaped the rewards of the unreal intelligence increase. His semiconductor firm, which produces important {hardware} for the burgeoning trade, noticed its share value climb to $279 by the tip of August, from $163 a yr earlier, far outperforming competing outfits equivalent to Nvidia, Qualcomm and AMD.

That rise has despatched Samueli taking pictures up the rating of America’s richest sports activities group homeowners, to No. 4, after he landed at No. 8 last year, No. 12 in 2023 and No. 16 in 2022. (On The Forbes 400, which ranks the wealthiest people within the United States, the 70-year-old billionaire got here in at No. 34 total.)

Samueli isn’t the one group proprietor to publish large beneficial properties within the public markets. The Los Angeles Clippers’ Steve Ballmer, who tops the American listing for the eleventh consecutive yr and likewise got here in at No. 1 within the global sports owner ranking in April, has widened his lead because of a 21% year-over-year bounce within the share value at Microsoft, the tech big the place he used to function CEO. Ballmer is now price an estimated $153 billion—$35 billion past the second-richest American group proprietor, Walmart inheritor Rob Walton, who controls the Denver Broncos. Only six people within the U.S. have larger fortunes than Ballmer.



Robert Pera, who ranks sixth amongst group homeowners this yr at $24 billion, additionally noticed large progress on the general public markets because the share value at Ubiquiti, the wi-fi gear firm he based in 2003, greater than doubled over the previous yr, reaching $528 to shut out August, up from $194. Pera’s internet price, in the meantime, has surged 140%—making him the one member of the sports activities proprietor rating to outpace Samueli’s 64%—and whereas his Memphis Grizzlies are the NBA’s least worthwhile group, the franchise appreciated an estimated $600 million in Forbes’ most recent valuations and is now price $3 billion.

Together, America’s 20 richest sports activities group homeowners are price an estimated $607 billion, a 20% enhance from 2024’s $504 billion. Their holdings embrace controlling stakes in 11 groups from the NBA, eight from the NFL, 5 from Major League Soccer, 4 from the NHL, two from European males’s soccer and one every from MLB and the Women’s Super League, the best stage of English soccer.

And as unique as this membership is, it’s solely getting more durable to crack. The cutoff for this yr’s high 20 is $10.1 billion—in a tie between the Miami Heat’s Micky Arison, who additionally serves as chairman of cruise ship operator Carnival Corporation, and the Detroit Pistons’ Tom Gores, who made his cash in personal fairness—which represents a 53% leap from $6.6 billion simply three years in the past.

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ Dan Gilbert was the one proprietor on this yr’s crop to see his fortune decline this yr. But even along with his internet price falling 19%, to $26.7 billion, the Rocket Companies founder is in no hazard of dropping out of the highest 20. The similar goes for the Miami Dolphins’ Stephen Ross, an actual property magnate who was flat year-over-year and is price $17 billion.

Arison and Home Depot cofounder Arthur Blank, who owns the Atlanta Falcons and MLS’s Atlanta United, are the 2 new names relative to 2024. Mat Ishbia, who controls the Phoenix Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and was No. 13 final yr, slips off the rating, along with his internet price tumbling 28%, to $9.5 billion, after a shaky yr for his publicly traded United Wholesale Mortgage. Cable billionaire John Malone, who has a stake within the Atlanta Braves and was No. 16 in 2024, was additionally excluded due to a change within the methodology of the proprietor listing, which now not counts groups managed by public corporations.


AMERICA’S 20 RICHEST SPORTS TEAM OWNERS


Net Worth: $153 billion

One-Year Change: +24%

Team: Los Angeles Clippers

Source of Wealth: Microsoft

Ballmer jump-started sports activities valuations along with his 2014 buy of the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion, and a transfer final yr from Crypto.com Arena—which the group shared with the Lakers and the NHL’s Kings—to the brand-new Intuit Dome in Inglewood has supercharged the franchise’s revenue. But the 69-year-old former Microsoft CEO is in scorching water within the wake of an investigation by the podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out that alleged that Aspiration—a now-bankrupt sustainability startup that Ballmer had invested in—paid Clippers star Kawhi Leonard $28 million in a circumvention of the NBA’s wage cap. Ballmer has denied the accusations.


Net Worth: $118 billion*

One-Year Change: +25%

Team: Denver Broncos

Source of Wealth: Walmart

The eldest son of Walmart cofounder Sam Walton, Rob Walton, now 80, led the group that acquired the Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion in 2022, however he has turned over day-to-day operations to his son-in-law Greg Penner, the group’s CEO. After lacking the playoffs within the first two years of the Walton period—plus the six earlier than that—the Broncos obtained again to the postseason final season. Things are additionally wanting up off the sector, with Denver constructing a $175 million headquarters that’s scheduled to be accomplished subsequent yr.


Net Worth: $37.9 billion*

One-Year Change: +27%

Team: Dallas Mavericks

Source of Wealth: Casinos

After Adelson’s household purchased the Dallas Mavericks for $3.5 billion in December 2023, her first full season as proprietor was a roller-coaster. In February, the Mavericks traded celebrity Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers—solely to win the NBA draft lottery and earn the fitting to draft celebrated prospect Cooper Flagg in June. The 79-year-old Adelson, the widow of Las Vegas Sands founder Sheldon Adelson, has additionally drawn consideration for her political donations, with $111 million given to pro-Donald Trump tremendous PACs in 2024.


Net Worth: $27.7 billion

One-Year Change: +64%

Team: Anaheim Ducks

Source of Wealth: Semiconductors

Samueli, 70, is investing $1 billion into renovations for the city-owned Honda Center, which opened in 1993 and now stands because the NHL’s fourth-oldest area. The Broadcom cofounder plans for the venue to be the centerpiece of a 100-acre leisure district known as OCVibe that he’s investing a further $4 billion into creating, and development is anticipated to run for the following three years, with the Honda Center scheduled to host indoor volleyball matches for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.


Net Worth: $26.7 billion

One-Year Change: -19%

Team: Cleveland Cavaliers

Source of Wealth: Mortgage lending

Gilbert might rating a big payday as he explores a minority sale of as much as 15% of the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to Sportico. But the 63-year-old cofounder behind Rocket Companies can also be dividing up his belongings after asserting on Friday a divorce from his spouse, Jennifer, who will turn into the 39th-richest woman in America, in line with Forbes estimates, price a minimum of $6.4 billion primarily based on the worth of her Rocket shares.


Net Worth: $24 billion

One-Year Change: +140%

Team: Memphis Grizzlies

Source of Wealth: Wireless networking

The Memphis Grizzlies have performed their residence video games at FedExForum because it opened in 2004—eight years earlier than the now-47-year-old Pera took over because the group’s proprietor—however there’s a plan to maintain the membership there lengthy past the expiration of its lease in 2029. The area is ready to get $550 million in renovations over the next seven to 12 years, in line with the Daily Memphian, with $80 million in public funds already accepted for the undertaking.


Net Worth: $23.7 billion

One-Year Change: +11%

Teams: Carolina Panthers, Charlotte FC

Source of Wealth: Hedge funds

Tepper, 67, has been busy on and off the gridiron, with his hedge fund, Appaloosa Management, lately rising its UnitedHealth holdings by practically 2.3 million shares and reporting a $179 million stake in Intel whereas the Carolina Panthers prepare for a renovation of Bank of America Stadium. Tepper’s holding firm is masking simply over half of the undertaking’s anticipated price of $1.3 billion, and town of Charlotte is choosing up the tab for the opposite $650 million.


Net Worth: $23 billion

One-Year Change: +8%

Team: New York Mets

Source of Wealth: Hedge funds

Cohen is price greater than double the next-richest MLB management proprietor—the Chicago Cubs’ $8.4 billion Ricketts family—and the 69-year-old investor behind Point72 will not be afraid to throw his cash round. In December, his New York Mets signed outfielder Juan Soto to a document 15-year, $765 million contract, and Cohen has been seeking to rework the land round Citi Field in an $8 billion undertaking centered on a on line casino. The plan cleared a procedural hurdle within the New York State Senate within the spring as Cohen’s group, which additionally consists of Hard Rock International, seeks one in all three gaming licenses anticipated to be awarded by the tip of this yr.


Net Worth: $21.3 billion

One-Year Change: +26%

Teams: Los Angeles Rams, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids, Arsenal FC, Arsenal Women FC

Source of Wealth: Sports, actual property

The 78-year-old Kroenke has amassed greater than 60 million sq. toes of actual property and 1.6 million acres of land, however his sports activities empire is simply as sprawling, with groups in six main professional leagues, in addition to the National Lacrosse League’s Colorado Mammoth. The Rams are his crown jewel, rating second amongst NFL groups with a valuation of $10.5 billion, and the group this yr introduced plans for a brand new headquarters and coaching facility within the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles on a web site Kroenke acquired in 2022.


Net Worth: $19.6 billion*

One-Year Change: +29%

Team: Dallas Cowboys

Source of Wealth: Dallas Cowboys, power

Fans could have their gripes after the Dallas Cowboys traded star edge rusher Micah Parsons final month, however there may be no debate in regards to the group’s enterprise success below the 82-year-old Jones. The Cowboys at the moment are price $13 billion, a yr after setting a document for a sports activities franchise at $10.1 billion, they usually generated a document $1.2 billion in income throughout the 2024 season. No different NFL group got here inside $400 million of that determine.


Net Worth: $19.4 billion

One-Year Change: +15%

Teams: Los Angeles Kings, LA Galaxy

Source of Wealth: Energy, sports activities, leisure

At 85, Anschutz controls greater than 70 venues worldwide by means of his Anschutz Entertainment Group, together with Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, residence to his Kings, and his different group within the metropolis, the LA Galaxy, is now one in all simply three MLS clubs worth at least $1 billion. Meanwhile, his power firm, Anschutz Exploration, has been constructing one of the world’s largest wind farms in Wyoming and lately unveiled plans for a pure gasoline plant within the state.


Net Worth: $17 billion

One-Year Change: 0%

Team: Miami Dolphins

Source of Wealth: Real property

After the NFL modified its possession guidelines in August 2024 to permit personal fairness companies to amass minority stakes within the league’s groups, Ross’ Miami Dolphins had been among the many first franchises to capitalize, closing a take care of Ares Management in December. The 85-year-old actual property developer and founding father of Related Companies can also be reportedly closing in on a deal to purchase roughly 45% of the Miami Open, which might add to a sports activities portfolio that features the Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium and Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix.


Net Worth: $14.3 billion

One-Year Change: +8%

Teams: Jacksonville Jaguars, Fulham FC

Source of Wealth: Auto components

The Pakistani-born Khan, whose Jacksonville Jaguars are aiming to finish a $1.4 billion renovation of EverBank Stadium by 2028, got here to the U.S. at age 16 and obtained a job as a dishwasher earlier than finally making his fortune because the proprietor of auto components provider Flex-N-Gate. The 75-year-old entrepreneur informed Forbes this summer time that Trump’s immigration crackdown was hurting the economy, including, “We need (immigrants) to survive.”


Net Worth: $13.8 billion

One-Year Change: +17%

Teams: New England Patriots, New England Revolution

Source of Wealth: Manufacturing, New England Patriots

While longtime New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has barred the team’s scouts from accessing his new program on the University of North Carolina, Kraft is clearly holding on to his fond recollections of the franchise’s dynasty. The 84-year-old billionaire, who made an early fortune in paper and packaging, revealed a 17-foot, 12,000-pound statue of legendary quarterback Tom Brady in August after which mentioned weeks later that he hoped a bronze model of Belichick would be a part of it as soon as the coach had hung up his headset.




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