New NBA Franchise Owner Has Tech Roots

Robert Pera
(photo from Forbes, which received it
courtesy of Mr. Pera)

Why do tech zillionaires want to own NBA franchises? Recently, Ubiquiti Networks' boss Robert Pera purchased the Memphis Grizzlies for what ESPN reported was $350 million. That's a lot of money, even for a newly minted billionaire such as Pera. Well, at least he was a billionaire on paper. That status changed earlier this year when the stock value of his firm, Ubiquiti Networks, was cut approximately in half.

Nonetheless, David Stern let Pera join the club, so to speak. The other three tech wizards who can claim ownership of an NBA team are Paul Allen (Portland Trail Blazers), Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks), and Joe Lacob (Golden State Warriors).

The San Jose Mercury News ran an interesting profile on Pera, noting his self-made man status and his business acumen.

While Pera is making his introductions in the NBA, so is the pro basketball franchise in Oklahoma City. What Commissioner David Stern probably won't like to discuss is how OKC moved from Seattle.  It's a tawdry story, complete with back room dealings and saddened fans. Les Carpenter wrote in Yahoo!Sports today about the sale of the Seattle franchise and its move to Oklahoma. Included in the meandering, yet interesting article are comments by Shawn Kemp, who was once a star for the Seattle team and now owns a bar in the Emerald City.