15 Richest NBA Owners in 2026, Ranked by Net Worth

Steve Ballmer is the richest NBA owner in 2026, with an estimated net worth of about $145 billion in the dated comparison used for this ranking. The Los Angeles Clippers owner is worth more than three times the estimated $40 billion fortune attached to the Dallas Mavericks’ Adelson-Dumont ownership family.

That is a snapshot, not a permanent scoreboard. Much of this wealth sits in public-company shares, private businesses and sports assets. A strong or weak trading day can move an estimate by hundreds of millions—and can swap two owners who are close together.

Richest NBA owners ranked in 2026

Rank	Owner / controlling family	NBA team	Estimated net worth	Main wealth source
1	Steve Ballmer	LA Clippers	$145bn	Microsoft
2	Miriam Adelson / Patrick Dumont family	Dallas Mavericks	$40bn	Casinos
3	Robert Pera	Memphis Grizzlies	$29bn	Ubiquiti
4	Stan Kroenke family	Denver Nuggets	$24.3bn*	Real estate, sports
5	Dan Gilbert	Cleveland Cavaliers	$23.7bn	Rocket Mortgage
6	Micky Arison	Miami Heat	$19.4bn	Carnival Corp.
7	Tilman Fertitta	Houston Rockets	$13.8bn	Restaurants, casinos
8	Josh Harris	Philadelphia 76ers	$13bn	Private equity
9	Joseph Tsai	Brooklyn Nets	$12.9bn	Alibaba
10	Tony Ressler	Atlanta Hawks	$10.6bn	Private equity
11	Tom Gores	Detroit Pistons	$10.1bn	Platinum Equity
12	Mat Ishbia	Phoenix Suns	$9.1bn	United Wholesale Mortgage
13	Jimmy Haslam	Milwaukee Bucks	$9bn	Truck stops, energy
14	Gayle Benson	New Orleans Pelicans	$7.9bn	Auto dealerships, sports
15	Herb Simon	Indiana Pacers	$7.8bn	Simon Property Group

*Kroenke-family control is structurally more complicated than one personal checkbook. Public rankings may attach the Nuggets to Stan Kroenke, while team ownership and NBA governance involve family-controlled Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. We preserve the source estimate but explain the distinction below.

The table is dated 18 August 2026. It starts with a 13 August ranking and replaces Dan Gilbert’s entry with Forbes’ 17 August real-time estimate. That fresh figure moves Gilbert below Pera. Since sources update on different schedules, the third-through-fifth order should be read as a narrow band, not false precision.

How we ranked owner wealth

We ranked the individual or family associated with control of each franchise, not every minority investor. Where the NBA governor and beneficial owner differ, the table identifies the controlling family and the profile explains who represents the team.

Net worth estimates include stakes in companies, property and the basketball team, less estimated liabilities. They are not bank balances and are not audited financial statements. Private-company values require assumptions; public-company stakes move with the market.

We did not add the fortunes of unrelated investors in an ownership group. We also did not treat a signed sale agreement as completed ownership before NBA approval and closing. That matters for the Lakers in August 2026.

1. Steve Ballmer — LA Clippers: $145 billion

Ballmer’s wealth comes primarily from the Microsoft stake he retained after serving as the company’s chief executive. Bloomberg estimated him at $149 billion in May 2026; the 13 August comparison used here placed him at $145 billion. Either way, nobody else in the NBA is close.

He bought the Clippers for $2 billion in 2014, a price that looked startling at the time. Ballmer later privately financed Intuit Dome, which opened in 2024 and gave the Clippers their own building after decades of shared homes.

The arena illustrates the practical difference between wealth and team value. Ballmer did not have $145 billion sitting in cash, but his asset base made a multibillion-dollar venue project possible without a conventional public-stadium funding model.

2. Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont — Mavericks: $40 billion

The Adelson and Dumont families bought a controlling share of the Mavericks in December 2023 at a reported $3.5 billion valuation. Their fortune is rooted in Las Vegas Sands, the casino company built by Miriam Adelson’s late husband, Sheldon.

Patrick Dumont, Adelson’s son-in-law, serves as the Mavericks’ governor. Mark Cuban kept a minority stake but no longer has final control. That is why describing Cuban as the current owner without qualification is outdated.

Adelson is the richest woman with control of an NBA franchise. The $40 billion figure is family-linked and may differ from estimates assigned to Miriam Adelson alone.

3. Robert Pera — Grizzlies: $29 billion

Pera founded wireless-networking company Ubiquiti and owns a large block of its shares. That concentration makes his estimated fortune especially responsive to the company’s stock price.

He bought the Memphis Grizzlies in 2012 for roughly $377 million. Forbes estimated the franchise at about $3 billion in its 2025 reporting, meaning the team has multiplied in value even though it remains among the NBA’s smaller markets.

Pera’s rise is a reminder that ranking changes often have nothing to do with basketball results. A surge in Ubiquiti shares can move him several places while the Grizzlies’ underlying business barely changes.

4. Stan Kroenke family — Nuggets: $24.3 billion

Kroenke built wealth through real estate and a portfolio of sports properties that includes the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Rams and 100% ownership of Arsenal. His wife, Ann Walton Kroenke, is a Walmart heir.

Cross-league ownership rules led to a family structure rather than a simple personal title. Their son Josh Kroenke is closely involved in the Nuggets and represents the business operationally. Rankings that say “Stan Kroenke owns the Nuggets” are understandable shorthand but not the whole governance story.

The family acquired the Nuggets and Avalanche operations in 2000. Team wealth and family wealth overlap, yet neither should be confused with the cash available under NBA salary rules.

5. Dan Gilbert — Cavaliers: $23.7 billion

Gilbert co-founded the mortgage business that became Rocket Companies and bought the Cavaliers in 2005 for $375 million. Forbes’ real-time profile put him at $23.7 billion on 17 August 2026, below the $29.3 billion carried in a comparison published only days earlier.

That gap is exactly why every serious wealth ranking needs a date. Rocket is publicly traded, and Forbes also revised Gilbert’s position as his assets were divided following a divorce.

Gilbert’s wider holdings include extensive real estate in Detroit and Cleveland and a stake in online marketplace StockX.

6. Micky Arison — Heat: $19.4 billion

Arison’s fortune is tied to Carnival Corporation, the cruise operator co-founded by his father. He has controlled the Miami Heat since 1995, making him one of the longest-serving owners near the top of this list.

The Heat cost the Arison family far less than a modern franchise sale, and decades of appreciation now represent a substantial portion of the family’s sports assets. Arison’s wealth nevertheless remains strongly connected to publicly traded Carnival shares, so travel-industry movements affect the estimate.

7. Tilman Fertitta — Rockets: $13.8 billion

Fertitta owns restaurants, casinos and hospitality assets through the Landry’s business network. He purchased the Houston Rockets for $2.2 billion in 2017, then an NBA record.

His wealth estimate is more dependent on private-company valuation and debt assumptions than an owner whose fortune sits in one transparent public stock. That makes different publications more likely to disagree on the exact number.

8. Josh Harris — 76ers: $13 billion

Harris co-founded Apollo Global Management and now leads a large sports portfolio. His group bought the Philadelphia 76ers in 2011 for about $280 million and later added the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and the NFL’s Washington Commanders.

The 76ers are owned through Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment with David Blitzer and other partners. Harris is the controlling public face, but his personal $13 billion estimate is not the combined wealth of the entire partnership.

9. Joseph Tsai — Nets: $12.9 billion

Tsai co-founded Alibaba and completed his purchase of the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center operating company in 2019. The combined transaction valued the team stake at roughly $2.35 billion, separate from the arena component.

His wealth moves with Alibaba and other investments. Tsai and his wife, Clara Wu Tsai, also own the WNBA’s New York Liberty, which further connects their basketball holdings without changing NBA salary-cap rules.

10. Tony Ressler — Hawks: $10.6 billion

Ressler co-founded Apollo and later Ares Management. A group he led bought the Atlanta Hawks in 2015 for about $850 million.

Like Harris, Ressler controls a group rather than owning every share personally. Ranking his personal fortune is cleaner than adding every partner, but it does not measure the group’s total access to capital.

Owners ranked 11 through 15

The next five remain comfortably wealthy enough to absorb normal basketball-business volatility:

• Tom Gores, Pistons ($10.1bn): founder of Platinum Equity; bought the franchise in 2011.
• Mat Ishbia, Suns ($9.1bn): chief executive of United Wholesale Mortgage; led the 2023 Suns and Mercury purchase.
• Jimmy Haslam, Bucks ($9bn): the Haslam group bought Marc Lasry’s stake in 2023, joining Wes Edens and other partners.
• Gayle Benson, Pelicans ($7.9bn): inherited control of the Pelicans and NFL’s Saints after Tom Benson’s death in 2018.
• Herb Simon, Pacers ($7.8bn): the Simon brothers bought the Pacers in 1983; Herb remains the controlling owner.

These values are close enough that a new business estimate can change the order without any franchise transaction.

Why the Lakers sale is not in the ranking yet

Josh Kushner and Bob Iger agreed in August 2026 to buy the Lakers from Mark Walter at a reported $12.5 billion valuation, the largest announced U.S. team-sale price. The agreement is not the same as completed control.

The Associated Press reported that the deal still requires approval from the NBA Board of Governors, whose next scheduled meeting is in September. Until approval and closing, SportsLook does not treat Kushner and Iger as settled owners for this snapshot.

That transaction also shows why owner net worth and franchise value are different. A $12.5 billion valuation is the price assigned to the Lakers equity in a deal; it is not Josh Kushner’s personal net worth.

Does the richest owner have the most valuable team?

No. Ballmer is the richest owner, but the Clippers are not the NBA’s most valuable franchise. Brand history, market size, media rights, arena economics and revenue matter more than an owner’s outside portfolio.

Owner wealth can finance facilities or absorb luxury-tax bills, but the collective bargaining agreement still controls roster spending. A billionaire cannot simply pay outside the salary cap to assemble any lineup.

The physical side of the business also differs: our biggest NBA arenas ranking shows that seat count has little relationship with owner fortune. Intuit Dome holds fewer people than several older buildings despite Ballmer’s enormous investment.

NBA wealth compared with NFL ownership

Ballmer leads every current U.S. major-league owner in the estimates used here. The next few places vary by date because Walmart, Microsoft and other public-market fortunes move constantly.

Our richest NFL owners ranking uses the same approach: identify the controlling person or family, date the estimate and distinguish a franchise’s value from its owner’s other assets. Comparing two undated tables can create a false result even when both were accurate when published.

The practical conclusion is stable even as the exact billions move: Steve Ballmer is comfortably the NBA’s richest owner, and the league’s next tier begins with the Adelson-Dumont family, Robert Pera, Dan Gilbert and the Kroenke family. Find more franchise-control explainers in the SportsLook ownership hub.