Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has really taken to owning the Los Angeles Clippers, as he has repeatedly vowed to make the team “hard core, baby!” Now The Financial Times reports that Ballmer has a lot more reasons to love owning the Clippers than we ever imagined — a billion more reasons, to be accurate.
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According to The Financial Times, Ballmer “stands to gain as much as $1 billion in tax benefits as a result of his $2 billion purchase of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, helping to explain why the Microsoft billionaire paid a record price for the club.” According to the publication’s analysis of American tax law, Ballmer can claim roughly half of the franchise’s purchase value against his taxable income over the next 15 years, which means that he’ll make about half of his initial investment back over the next decade and a half.
Even though he was often criticized for some of his missteps as Microsoft’s CEO, particularly in terms of being very late to the smartphone market, Ballmer has always been a very shrewd businessman who has never had a problem making money and it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that he is fully aware of just how much money he stands to make back from his purchase of the franchise.
Read The Financial Times’ full report on Ballmer’s sweet Clippers tax break by hitting the source link below.
