Billionaire businessman and CNBC’s “Billion Dollar Buyer” star Tilman Fertitta has agreed to buy the NBA’s Houston Rockets franchise for a league record $2.2 billion.
That tops the previous record of $2 billion, which was the hefty price tag former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer paid for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2014.
Fertitta owns the Golden Nugget Casinos and restaurant group Landry’s, which counts Bubba Gump Shrimp, Rainforest Cafe and Morton’s Steakhouse among its many establishments and chains. The Houston native actually worked for the Rockets as a director back in the mid-1990s, and was an original investor in the city’s Texans NFL franchise.
Fox 26 reporter Mark Berman first reported news of the sale:
According to NBA sources Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta (@TilmanJFertitta) set to buy the Houston Rockets franchise. pic.twitter.com/1aCvcCGUKZ
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) September 5, 2017
Berman later posted individual statements from the Rockets, Fertitta and Alexander:
From the #Rockets: pic.twitter.com/zPELwOZswq
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) September 5, 2017
Rockets statement on the sale of the franchise includes reaction from their new owner @TilmanJFertitta : pic.twitter.com/KxD8NE5peK
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) September 5, 2017
Reaction from Leslie Alexander on the sale of his franchise to @TilmanJFertitta in the #Rockets statement: pic.twitter.com/JbyhNyRKbQ
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) September 5, 2017