Michael Jordan's $3 Billion Hornets Sale

Michael Jordan agreed to sell his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets to a group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall at a franchise valuation of about 3 billion dollars.

The deal ended his 13 year run as controlling owner, which began in 2010 when he bought the interest for 275 million dollars.

The sale closed on August 3, 2023, following NBA approval, with Jordan retaining a minority stake.

The new ownership group included investors Daniel Sundheim and Dyal HomeCourt Partners, along with rapper J. Cole and country artist Eric Church.

The sale also encompassed the Spectrum Center arena, the G League Greensboro Swarm, and the NBA 2K League Hornets Venom GT team.

The roughly 3 billion dollar price, up from a 1.77 billion dollar Sportico valuation in 2022, underscored the steep rise in NBA franchise values over the past decade.

A higher estimate is not another sale. CNBC valued Charlotte at $3.9 billion in February 2026, 27th among 30 teams, according to NBC Bay Area. On court, Charles Lee delivered 44 wins in 2025 to 2026, an improvement of 25 over the previous season. The 16 and 28 mark was that season's slow start, not the prior year's final record. Lee earned a May 7 contract extension after the franchise's biggest annual turnaround, the Charlotte Post reports. Fans still need wins, not valuation tables; watch whether Lee sustains that improvement when the next season begins.