Mat Ishbia, the owner of United Wholesale Mortgage, is completing a deal to buy the Phoenix Suns and the Phoenix Mercury for $4 billion.
“BREAKING: Billionaire mortgage lender Mat Ishbia is finalizing a purchase of the Phoenix Suns, sources tell ESPN,” Wojnarowski tweeted. “The deal, expected to be completed in the near future, would end the tumultuous tenure of owner Robert Sarver.”
Forbes recently listed Ishbia’s net worth at $5.1 billion.
If the deal goes through, it will be the largest sale team sale in the NBA’s history. Joe Tsai bought the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center for $3.3 billion in 2019, and Tilman Fertitta purchased the Houston Rockets for $2.2 billion in 2017. Steve Ballmer, the former Microsoft CEO bought the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion in 2017.
Ishbia, a former Michigan State player and a member of the Spartans’ NCAA championship team in 2000, will now be subject to a vetting process by the NBA.
Once that process is completed, the NBA’s board of governors will have to approve the sale. The board isn’t scheduled to meet again until March, though it could convene virtually if the vetting process is successfully completed beforehand.
Current Suns owner Robert Sarver is practically being forced to sell the organization after a series of reports were published in the last year detailing the toxic workplace culture that the owner has fostered for years, including racist and sexist comments and behavior toward employees.
In September, the NBA suspended Sarver and fined him $10 million after a league investigation found him responsible for “workplace misconduct and organizational deficiencies.” Later that month, Sarver announced his desire to sell the team after buying it for $401 million in 2004.
“I had a great call with fellow Spartan Mat Ishbia congratulating him on his purchase of the Phoenix Suns,” Magic Johnson, another Michigan State alum, tweeted Tuesday.
“He’s going to do great things not only for the Suns organization, but for the entire league. All of the other 29 NBA teams better watch out because Mat’s a winner!”
