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March 28, 2010
Why Two-Meter Billionaire Says He’s Only NBA Owner Who Can Dunk
Bloomberg Markets via BusinessWeek.com
by Stephanie Baker
First 60 Minutes. Now a lengthy profile in Bloomberg Markets. This is starting to seem like a coordinated public relations campaign. More here about how Prokhorov got to be Prokhorov, but nothing about why he didn't attend the groundbreaking.
Prokhorov’s love of sports is part of the reason he wants to buy the Nets. He says he originally went after the New York Knicks because of their Manhattan base. They weren’t for sale. Ratner says he approached Prokhorov after hearing from NBA Commissioner David Stern that he was interested in buying a team.
Ratner, 65, had bought the Nets in 2004, for $300 million, from a holding company called YankeeNets LLC. Ratner traveled to Moscow in mid-2009 to discuss the plan with Prokhorov over dinner. Six weeks later, they made a deal.
“We hit it off,” Ratner says. “He will control the team, and we will control the arena.”
NoLandGrab: Of course, there's no disclosure that the man who owns Bloomberg Markets also owns is mayor of New York CIty, which has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies for the building of that arena.
Posted by eric at March 28, 2010 11:44 PM