- Billionaires often make extravagant purchases – like buying their own sports team.
- CEOWORLD magazine recently ranked the 20 wealthiest owners of major league sports teams around the world.
- Some billionaire owners own more than one team – like Paul Allen, who owns the Portland Trail Blazers and the Seattle Seahawks.
Billionaires have a lot of cash to drop. Some are known to spend it on mansions. Others, private planes and luxury cars. And others still? They just buy their own sports team.
CEOWORLD magazine recently ranked the 20 wealthiest owners of major league sports teams using Forbes’ World’s Billionaires ranking. They found that of the 62 billionaire team owners around the world, their collected net worth is $375 billion. And for some, one team isn’t enough – together, they own 78 teams.
In fact, three among the top five richest billionaire sports team owners own multiple teams, Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen among them. Dietrich Mateschitz and Stanley Kroenke own the most teams on the list, with three and four each, respectively. Only one woman makes the list: Marian Ilitch, the cofounder of Little Caesars Pizza.
From football to basketball, here’s a look at the 20 richest owners of major sports league teams.
20. Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, Thailand
Net worth: $5 billion
Team: Leicester City
Source of wealth: Duty-free, self-made
19. Joe Lewis, United Kingdom
Net worth: $5.1 billion
Team: Tottenham Hotspur
Source of wealth: Investments, self-made
18. Marian Ilitch, United States
Net worth: $5.2 billion
Teams: Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers
Source of wealth: Little Caesars Pizza, self-made
17. Richard DeVos & family, United States
Net worth: $5.4 billion
Team: Orlando Magic
Source of wealth: Amway, self-made
16. Jerry Jones, United States
Net worth: $5.6 billion
Team: Dallas Cowboys
Source of wealth: Dallas Cowboys, self-made
15. Charles Johnson, United States
Net worth: $5.6 billion
Team: San Francisco Giants
Source of wealth: Money management
14. Robert Kraft, United States
Net worth: $6.2 billion
Teams: New England Patriots, New England Revolution
Source of wealth: The Kraft Group, self-made
13. Daniel Gilbert, United States
Net worth: $6.3 billion
Team: Cleveland Cavaliers
Source of wealth: Quicken Loans, self-made
12. Shahid Khan, United States
Net worth: $7.2 billion
Team: Jacksonville Jaguars
Source of wealth: Auto parts, self-made
11. Stephen Ross, United States
Net worth: $7.6 billion
Team: Miami Dolphins
Source of wealth: Real estate, self-made
10. Stanley Kroenke, United States
Net worth: $8.3 billion
Teams: Los Angeles Rams, Arsenal, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche
Source of wealth: Sports and real estate, self-made
9. Mikhail Prokhorov, Russia
Net worth: $9.6 billion
Team: Brooklyn Nets
Source of wealth: Investments, self-made
8. Micky Arison, United States
Net worth: $9.7 billion
Team: Miami Heat
Source of wealth: Carnival Cruises
7. Roman Abramovich, Russia
Net worth: $10.8 billion
Team: Chelsea FC
Source of wealth: Steel and investments, self-made
6. Hasso Plattner & family, Germany
Net worth: $12.7 billion
Team: San Jose Sharks
Source of wealth: Software, self-made
5. Philip Anschutz, United States
Net worth: $13 billion
Teams: Los Angeles Kings, LA Galaxy
Source of wealth: Investments
4. Paul Allen, United States
Net worth: $21.7 billion
Teams: Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle Seahawks
Source of wealth: Microsoft and investments, self-made
3. Dietrich Mateschitz, Austria
Net worth: $23 billion
Teams: New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Racing, Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda
Source of wealth: Red Bull, self-made
2. Steve Ballmer, United States
Net worth: $38.4 billion
Team: Los Angeles Clippers
Source of wealth: Microsoft, self-made
1. Mukesh Ambani, India
Net worth: $40.1 billion
Team: Mumbai Indians
Source of wealth: Petrochemicals and oil/gas