NBA franchise the Phoenix Suns have been purchased by billionaire Mat Ishbia to end the tumultuous tenure of owner Robert Sarver.
Mortgage lender Ishbia has a net worth of $5.59 billion and is believed to have purchased the Suns for around $4bln. The 32-year-old has been involved in basketball for some time, playing four years in the NCAA for Michigan State.
Earlier this year, Sarver was fined $10 million - approximately £8.7m - and suspended from the sport for a year after the league investigated allegations against him. NBA stars LeBron James and Chris Paul were among those outraged at the severity - or lack thereof - of the sanctions.
Sarver - who is reportedly worth $800m (£696m) - received a punishment that was less severe than that of former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. After he was recorded making a number of racist comments, Sterling was banned from the NBA for life and forced to sell the Clippers in 2014.
The NBA interviewed 320 people and analysed 80,000 documents and videos following the reports of Sarver’s behaviours, which emerged in an ESPN article last November. It suggested his 18-year tenure at the team had been riddled with racism, sexism and bullying.
The NBA investigation found evidence of ‘racially insensitive language, unequal treatment of female employees and sex-related statements and conduct’. However, the league did not find that Sarver’s conduct was ‘motivated by racial or gender-based animus’.
The league also discovered Sarver had used the N-word at least five times after ‘recounting the statements of others’, while the report also found the 60-year-old ‘engaged in instances of inequitable conduct toward female employees, made sex-related comments in the workplace, made inappropriate comments about the physical appearance of female employees and other women, and on several occasions engaged in inappropriate physical conduct toward male employees.’
If Sarver does find a buyer for the Suns as expected, he stands to make a huge profit. He bought the franchise in 2004 for $401m (£354.7m) - and the team was valued at $1.8bn (£1.6bn) at the beginning of last season, according to Forbes.
The Phoenix Suns are currently third in the Western Conference as they possess a 19-12 record. They face the Washington Wizards in their next match on Tuesday night.
