By Kurt Badenhausen
Publication Date: 2026-01-29 16:13:00
Steve Ballmer’s Los Angeles Clippers have rebounded on the court after a slow start to the NBA season, but the net worth of the world’s richest sports team owner was hammered Thursday morning by a 12% decline in Microsoft after the company reported earnings.
It would mean a $14 billion loss on paper for Ballmer, who was Microsoft CEO for 14 years and is still its largest individual shareholder with roughly 4% of company shares. Ballmer would be worth $133 billion if the Microsoft stock decline holds, according to Forbes’ real-time billionaires list. Denver Broncos owner Rob Walton would then nudge past Ballmer as the richest owner in sports at $136 billion.
After centi-billionaires Walton and Ballmer, there is a steep drop in net worth among people who hold control positions in major sports franchises. Miriam Adelson’s family owns the Dallas Mavericks and is worth $36 billion, per Forbes. Next up are fellow NBA owners Dan Gilbert (Cleveland…
