Meet world’s second richest sports team owner, it’s not Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani or Shah Rukh Khan

Sports teams are among the most favourite of billionaire possessions. Several of the world’s richest own the most famous sports teams, from Saudi sheikhs to tech tycoons. In terms of billionaires whose wealth is accounted for, Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani currently ranks as the wealthiest among sports team owners worldwide, as per a 2023 lists from Statista and Forbes.

Mukesh Ambani owns IPL franchise Mumbai Indians, which was valued at $1.3 billion in 2022. Mukesh Ambani is the world’s ninth richest person with a net worth of $83.4 billion. Interestingly, fellow Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, whose conglomerate owns sports teams named Gujarat Giants, does not feature on either of the lists. 

The world’s second richest owner of a sports team is a billionaire who was hired by tech legend Bill Gates and draws his wealth from Microsoft. However, he is not the current CEO Satya Nadella but his predecessor Steve Ballmer. Ballmer bought NBA (National Basketball Association) team Los Angeles Clippers in 2014 for around $2 billion. He is also right behind Mukesh Ambani in the list of the richest people in the world at the 10th spot. 

Ballmer was the eccentric CEO who led Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. He was Microsoft’s employee No 30 after he dropped out of MBA course at Stanford University. He was a classmate of Bill Gates at Harvard University.

One of the most famous faces in the world and one of India’s richest film stars, Shah Rukh Khan owns Kolkata Knight Riders. Khan reportedly has a net worth of around $770 million as per most recent estimates. KKR holds an estimated valuation of around $1.1 billion.