charlotte hornets Owner Michael Jordan is engaged in serious talks to sell a majority stake in the franchise to a group led by Hornets minority owner Gabe Plotkin and atlanta hawks minority owner Rick Schnall, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
The sources said no deal is imminent, but there is significant momentum on a sale that would eventually install Plotkin and Schnall as co-governors of the Hornets.
The sources said that if the sale is completed, Jordan is expected to remain with a minority stake in the franchise.
Jordan, a six-time NBA champion and five-time MVP, is considered by many to be the greatest player in the history of the game and has been the league’s only black majority owner.
Jordan sold a significant minority stake in 2020 to Melvin Capital founder and chief investment officer Plotkin and D1 Capital founder and chief investment officer Daniel Sundheim, and sources said Sundheim is part of a group working to buy the team.
The sale of a majority stake in the Hornets would mark the end of Jordan’s 13-year tenure as owner. He paid $275 million in 2010 for a majority stake in the franchise.
Schnall, co-chairman of the private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in New York, was part of a group that included majority owners Tony Ressler and Grant Hill that bought the Hawks in 2015 for $850 million.