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It’s no secret in Hollywood that Peter Guber is really really rich. So, like most rich guys, he’s indulging his sports fantasies. CNBC just broke the news that he’s bought the NBA team with Joe Lacob, managing partner at private equity firm Kleiner Perkins, for the winning bid of $450 million, beating the previous NBA record of $401M (paid for the Phoenix Suns in 2004). What CNBC did not report was that Guber, the chairman of Mandalay Entertainment and former chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, is an add-on to Lacob’s bid. They beat out rival bidder Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle. (And the Warriors play at Oracle Arena!) 
Lacob bought a share of the Boston Celtics in 2006. Guber’s Mandalay Entertainment already owns and operates minor league teams, including two affiliates of the New York Yankees. The sale was brokered by Galatioto Sports Partners. The Warriors franchise was bought by Chris Cohan in 1995 for $119M, and since then has had the 2nd worst record in the league behind the LA Clippers. And NBA commissioner David Stern has said the league as a whole will lose $370M from this past season, and there might be a work stoppage after next season. Still, the Golden State team was valued at $315M by Forbes in December of last year because “the Warriors’ location in the Bay area undoubtedly added more interest and thus a higher price,” CNBC said. Now the NBA’s Board of Governors needs to approve the new owners, which is considered a formality.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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That’s a definite overpay on that franchise. In this economic climate I’m surprised it was even bought up at all. I’m pretty sure Ellison wasn’t beat out for the team, if he really wanted it it would have been his.
You can’t build a winner with all the competition in the West even with the fan-base that would turn up. The amount of time and work needed to building the team to a competitive level will be a tough slog.
Ellison said in a statement that he was the highest bidder but that Cohan decided to sell to someone else. Maybe some bad blood between them. I could see Cohan being annoyed that every Warriors fan out there has been waiting for him to sell the team to Ellison for two years now.
A great dream realized. Congrats, Peter!
Some have argued that Robert Sarver, who bought the Suns from Jerry Colangelo, overpaid in ’04. Sarver brought back Steve Nash that year and Phoenix has consistently had 2 to 3 All Stars and been title contenders every year since with the only exception being the ’08-’09 season.
The Warriors ended last season with the 3rd worst record in the West and have zero All Stars. With league’s collective bargining agreement expiring after next season, a possible lockout and commissioner David Stern being the all around complete idiot that he is, the Warriors for $450MM in this economy is a bad buy.
The lockout is going to happen.
JG, David Lee is an All-Star.
True about the Suns, but the franchise has also had to dump draft picks and players because of they refused to go into the luxury tax. Perhaps if they hadn’t overpaid they would have been able to afford the missing piece of the puzzle.
He brought Sony crashing down…
let’s see what he can do with a lackluster NBA team.
I worked for Peter. The man has enough energy to make the Warriors and Clippers battle for a three-peat. His brain is like some sort of mega-computer.
CTRL + ALT + DLT
Step 1 – rename them either the Oakland Warriors or move the team and call them either San Francisco Warriors or San Jose Warriors. The ‘Golden State’ never worked.
Especially considering “The City” t-shirts are the most popular.
He paid $450 million and already they’re $900 million in the red thanks to Hollywood bookeeping.
Guber should fit right in with the NBA owners; their accounting is about as shady as the studios’. The NBA losing that kind of money is like Harry Potter still being in the red.
he should be going into another business, his show with Bart is terrible. They are two self-important blow hards
I believe the NBA is losing money. Why not? The teams get their money from:
A. TV Deals.
B. Attendance/tickets/concessions.
C. Corporate Luxury Suites and sponsorships.
All three of these are falling, particularly the corporate luxury suites, and sponsorships, while contracts remain constant, and based on much higher anticipated revenue streams.
By way of comparison, the NFL brings in about $4 billion per year combined from its TV deals, while the NBA brings in about $1 billion.
Steinbrenner was the model: invest in a traditional winner down on its luck. Bring championship after championship. Build your own proprietary TV/Cable network for out-of-area fans that makes a lot of money. Charge for luxury suites by producing winners.
David Lee is an All-Star.
Hey Peter!
When the NBA comes crashing down next year, move your new team up here to Seattle and we will start a new league without the rampant egos of the likes of Lebron james. This is a true B-Ball town!
David Stern and the NBA can eat my gym socks!!
Go the NEW Seattle Supersonics!!!
…says the bitter fan from Seattle.
The book about how he destroyed Columbia Pictures was fun!
I agree that the Golden State name doesn’t work. I think California Warriors has a nice ring to it.
I didn’t know the Warriors were still an NBA franchise. Long gone are the days of Chris Mullin and Manute Bol (RIP)
i didn’t know he had that much money
This does feel like an overpay. As much as the Suns were resurrected, it’s hard to think Guber and Co. will want to shell out that much themselves to pay talent both on court and back office to build a real competitive franchise.
Moreover, there is zero brand recog to the GSW – what IS “Golden State?” And I live here! Maybe a move to Seattle, which desperately needs a new franchise, or at least a City attachment (good luck on getting any tax incentives/breaks/$$$ for that here in the Golden State, considering L.A. can’t even create a pro-football team here and our precious State is bankrupt).
The solution? Go “Moneyball” on GSW – find the formulas to get cheap & motivated players & coaches, break out a few rookies, be willing to pay them when the time is right – c’mon Gubes, YOU got paid alot to be the mind that YOU are – build an underdog brand (the Raiders still top merchandising lists) and do connect with a city. (What WAS San Antonio before their team, right?)
Go Gubes! I’ve had the pleasure of being around his rapid-fire, nuclear smart brain…HE’S AN OWNER OF AN NBA TEAM YOU D-BAGS!!!!!
They will move this franchise to San Jose. The Oakland economic climate is not the future of money
Congratulations, Peter! It took a while, but you’ve finally got yourself both a business and a high-profile plaything — a sublime combination for a man of your restless, diverse ambitions. Very cool.