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HughPickens.com [hughpickens.com] writes:

Joe Nocera has a fun read in the NYT about how since stepping down after three decades at Microsoft with a net worth of $24 billion, Steve Ballmer paid a staggering $2 billion for the Los Angeles Clippers — and is having a ball as the new owner [nytimes.com] and biggest fan of the team. At the news conference after he bought the team, Ballmer began screaming [youtube.com] — screaming, the way he famously used to do at Microsoft events [youtube.com] — in his excitement over being the Clippers’ new owner. “He is a fan,” says point guard Chris Paul. “And his energy is contagious.” Ballmer has changed the team’s culture, re-energizing the front office, focusing on making Clippers games more fun for fans — and creating an atmosphere that gives players and fans alike hope that a championship will one day soon be within their grasp. “He’s brought credibility to this franchise," says Coach Doc Rivers.

Ballmer says that he had always been passionate about basketball and had long wanted to buy a basketball team. What held him back, he said, was his “day job.” After TMZ got hold of a taped phone conversation between Donald Sterling and his mistress, V. Stiviano, in which the Clippers owner made a series of deeply offensive racist remarks [theguardian.com], Ballmer got in touch with Shelly Sterling who was already talking to other potential buyers. Although Ballmer had bid well over $1 billion, but when he heard that someone was going to offer $1.8 billion, Ballmer increased his bid to $2 billion - more than double what anyone else has ever paid for a professional basketball team [nytimes.com]. That sealed the deal. Many people thought Ballmer had overpaid for a franchise that had always played second fiddle to the Lakers, and remains at least a notch below the likes of the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs. But for Ballmer, it’s been worth every penny. “Things are worth what other people are willing to pay for them,” says Ballmer. “If I could get the deal done at $2 billion, who cares if I overpaid by 5 percent?”

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