Michael Jordan is Now Majority Owner of the Bobcats

Michael Jordan's dream has always been to be an owner of an NBA team. He was finally given the chance to live out that dream when the NBA board of governors unanimously approved Jordan's purchase of the Charlotte Bobcats from Robert L. Johnson. The terms of the deal valued the Bobcats at $275 million, and Jordan has become a majority owner.

Robert Johnson is the former owner of Black Entertainment Television. His ownership stake in the Bobcats didn't go so well, given that the team has been losing money. Johnson paid $300 million to purchase the Bobcats in 2002, making him the first African American to be a majority owner in a major sports franchise. He accumulated $100 million in debt and financed $80 million in team losses, making him happy to sell his stake to Jordan.

"Purchasing the Bobcats is the culmination of my post-playing career goal of becoming the majority owner of an NBA franchise," said Jordan, who first began investing in the Bobcats in 2006.

In response to his decision to sell his Bobcats stake to Jordan, Johnson had this to say: "The best decision I made since acquiring the Bobcats was to convince my friend Michael to become an investor in the Bobcats and to appoint him as managing member of basketball operations."

Johnson is not selling his entire stake to Jordan. He plans to remain a minority owner in the team, in addition to Bank of America and Wachovia.

Adam Silver, the deputy commissioner of the NBA, made a statement in response to Jordan's acquisition of the Bobcats: "This is an opportunity for a rebirth of NBA basketball in North Carolina. Michael invented the sports marketing business in the 1980s with Nike, and given that he's one of the most competitive people on the planet, there's little doubt he will turn the franchise around."

Up until this point, Jordan does not have a strong track record as an owner or manager in the NBA. Under his leadership, the Wizards have had huge financial losses, and he is known for making poor choices with draft picks. One of his worst acquisitions was Kwame Brown, who Jordan persuaded the Wizards to choose as the #1 pick of the 2001 NBA draft. Brown never became the player Jordan expected him to be, leading to Brown being traded to the Lakers in his fourth year.

Lawrence Watkins is the CEO of The Great Black Speakers Bureau and an MBA student at Cornell University. For more information, please visit LawrenceWatkins.com.