Larry Ellison, the billionaire founder and CEO of software giant Oracle, is part of a trio including record producer David Geffen and TV personality Oprah Winfrey preparing a bid for the L.A. Clippers basketball team, according to reports on ESPN, citing comments from Geffen and a Winfrey spokeswoman.
Oracle declined to comment on the report. But it would be the second time that Ellison has pursued an interest in an NBA franchise. In 2010 he sought to buy a majority share in the Golden State Warriors. That team went instead to joint bidders Joe Lacob of Kleiner Perkins and Peter Guber, chairman of Mandalay Entertainment.
The Clippers are likely to become available in the wake of the decision by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to ban DavidDonald Sterling, the current Clippers owner, from basketball for life. Sterling was recorded making a series of racist and inflammatory comments. Any sale is contingent on the NBA board of governors voting to force a sale of the team.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?
Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple reasons that we can't rely only on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on.
First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.
Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. We can’t do that if we have a paywall.
That’s why we also turn to you, our readers, to help us keep Vox free. If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today?
Yes, I'll give $5/month
Yes, I'll give $5/month
We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and
Google Pay. You can also contribute via