One of Microsoft’s late co-founder paulallen’s many interests and properties may be sold because a new report lists potential buyers and the price tag of the NBA Portland Trail Blazers.
ESPN reported on Thursday that Nike founder philknight and alansmolinisky, part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers basketball team, have submitted a bid of more than $2billion for the Trail Blazers.
ESPN quoted anonymous sources to report that knight’s deep ties with the region “reflect the potential ownership group’s desire to keep the team in Portland for a long time”. Nike is headquartered in the region, and knight is loyal to his alma mater, the University of Oregon.
In a statement to ESPN on Thursday, a Blazers spokesman said: “Phil Knight has made an offer. The team is still not for sale.”
According to ESPN, Forbes valued the Blazers at $2.05 billion in 2021, making it the 13th most valuable team in the NBA.
It is believed that the sale is in line with Allen’s wishes, and Allen died in october2018.
The Paul G. Allen trust fund is currently managed by his sister Jodie Allen, who has been secretly implementing his brother’s instructions, including the divestiture of many of his distant assets to maximize the value of the estate.
The Seattle Seahawks are also owned by the Allen trust and must be sold, although it is uncertain when this will happen.
Last week, a source told sports columnist johncansano: “Paul instructed to liquidate the trust fund after his death and liquidate the assets used to fund his passion projects.”. “These are not pending. The instructions are clear: all sports franchises and trusteeships must be sold.”
In March, art Thiel, a longtime Seattle sports columnist, discussed the possibility of Amazon founder jeffbezos acquiring Seahawks for $4billion or more on geekwire podcast.
In 1988, Allen, 35, bought the Blazers for $70million. In 1997, he bought the NFL franchise for $194million, thus preventing the Seahawks from moving to California.
Knight, now 84, has a net worth of about $50billion. According to ESPN, smallness joined the Dodge team as a limited partner in 2019 and achieved success in commercial real estate and investment.