Former Microsoft CEO Buys Los Angeles Clippers For $2 Billion Dollars (Updated)

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has reportedly purchased the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion dollars.

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Earlier in the day we told you that former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had made an offer of $1.8 billion to buy the Los Angeles Clippers. But what's another $200 million to a guy worth 100 times that? In winning the bid Ballmer beat out at least three other offer sheets ranging from $1.2-$1.8 billion.

For those who don't know who Ballmer is, he succeeded Bill Gates as the CEO of Microsoft in 2008 where he worked for almost six years before being forced out after losing billions of dollars on the Surface Tablet. He also left Microsoft in third place in the smart phone area, even saying of the iPhone "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance." After news broke of Ballmer's "stepping down" Microsoft saw a rebound in their stock prices.

When it comes to the world of sports, Ballmer was one of many investors who pledged his support (and more importantly his money) towards keeping the Supersonics in Seattle. Unfortunately for the Pacific Northwest that seems like a distant footnote as we settle down to watch Game Five between the Spurs and Thunder.

The $2 billion dollar purchasing price is an NBA record and a 16,000% return on Donald Sterling's initial $12.5 million investment. Of course, the entire deal is pending on a signature from the Sterling family trust.

No word yet on what hot dogs will cost next season but we'd expect a sizable bump.

Update: We said the purchase was contingent upon a Sterling family trust signature, and now it appears to have been signed off on.

There is now a signed, binding agreement between Ballmer and the Sterling family trust to sell the Clippers for $2billion, ESPN has learned

League approval should follow shortly. 

Update #2:

Shelley Sterling was able to complete the transaction without Donald's signature because he was deemed to be "mentally unfit" earlier by medical experts.

Espn has learned that experts had declared Donald Sterling mentally incapacitated, leaving Shelly as sole trustee & power to sell the team
The Sterling Family Trust had rules & guidelines about mental incapacitation. Very recently, Donald was found by experts to be incapacitated

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