Oprah Winfrey is among a list of bidders interested in purchasing the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers from recently-banned owner Donald Sterling.
Winfrey, who is worth close to $3 billion according to Forbes, is amongst a group that includes entertainment mogul David Geffen and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, according to ESPN.com.
“Oprah is not interested in running the team,” Geffen told (ESPN’s Jeremy) Schaap. “She thinks it would be a great thing for an important black American to own [another] franchise.
“The team deserves a better group of owners who want to win. Larry would sooner die than fail. I would sooner die than fail. Larry’s a sportsman. We’ve talked about this for a long time. Between the three of us, we have a good shot.”
Geffen, a long-time entertainment and media executive who is worth $6.2 million by Forbes, has previously attempted to buy the Clippers from Sterling in 2010. The co-creator of DreamWorks studio offered $600 million for the team in 2010. Ellison, the third-wealthiest man in America according to Forbes, has also attempted to purchase an NBA team for the last couple of years, expressing interest in the past in the Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors and New Orleans Hornets.
Floyd Mayweather has also announced his interest in the team, adding to a long list of interested buyers in the franchise.