Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is reportedly selling a majority stake in his NBA franchise to casino magnate and Jewish philanthropist Dr. Miriam Adelson.
Cuban, the Jewish billionaire known for entrepreneurial endeavors including his starring role on ABC’s reality show “Shark Tank,” is selling a stake valued at $3.5 billion to Adelson, the widow of longtime Jewish mega-donor Sheldon Adelson.
The deal was first reported by NBA reporter Marc Stein.
The deal represents something of a partnership for Cuban and Adelson, whose daughter is on the Israeli version of “Shark Tank.” Cuban will retain control over the team’s basketball operations, while Adelson is expected to bring her casino know-how to Dallas, where some lawmakers are seeking to legalize recreational gambling.
Adelson and her family will own a greater than 50% stake of the team, though the precise percentage that she is purchasing was not divulged.
The deal means Adelson, 78, will no longer hold a majority of shares in The Sands, the casino business that has generated most of her family’s wealth and allowed her to donate prolifically to Jewish and pro-Israel causes. At 3:07 p.m. Tuesday, Las Vegas Sands Corp. announced that Miriam Adelson was selling $2 billion of Sands Corp. stock.
In its Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Sands Corp. stated that the $2 billion, “along with additional cash on hand,” will “fund the purchase of a majority interest in a professional sports franchise pursuant to a binding purchase agreement, subject to customary league approvals.”
Late Tuesday, Sands issued a release saying Miriam Adelson and the Miriam Adelson Trust would be selling more than 46 million shares at a price of $44 a share with the offering scheduled to close Friday. Subject to that closing, Sands has agreed to repurchase 5.8 million shares for around $250 million. The completion of the share repurchase is conditioned on and is expected to close concurrently with the closing of the offering.
Adelson’s net worth is estimated at over $30 billion, making her the richest Israeli in the world
Sheldon Adelson, who died in 2021, was a major financial supporter of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Miriam Adelson has continued to contribute to the governor’s campaign over the last two years.
The pending deal, if finalized and approved by the NBA Board of Governors, would merge the interests of Cuban and the Las Vegas Sands Corp., which have planned to partner in building a Dallas resort casino and arena, if gambling is legalized in Texas.
Cuban as of Tuesday evening had not responded to a request for comment about the sale, but last December he told The News: “My goal, and we’d partner with Las Vegas Sands, is when we build a new arena it’ll be in the middle of a resort and casino. That’s the mission.”
Cuban, 65, purchased the Mavericks in 2000 for $285 million. The team is the seventh-most valuable NBA franchise, according to Forbes, which also estimates Cuban’s net worth at $6.2 billion. Cuban also announced Tuesday that he would be leaving “Shark Tank” next year.
Both Cuban and Adelson have been involved in Jewish causes, Adelson heavily so
Cuban, whose paternal grandparents had their last name changed from Chabenisky after emigrating from Russia, has said he encountered antisemitism growing up. Cuban is one of the most outspoken owners in all of professional sports on a variety of political issues – including antisemitism.
The Adelson Family Foundation has been a prolific giver to Jewish organizations, most notably Birthright Israel. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson have also been known for their support of Republican politicians, including Donald Trump. Miriam Adelson scaled back her philanthropy during the pandemic when The Sands was not delivering dividends for its shareholders.
The Mavericks do not have any Jewish players, but one of the team’s stars is Kyrie Irving, the All-Star guard who caused controversy last year after he promoted an antisemitic film online and initially refused to apologize. Irving was traded to Dallas in the midst of the scandal.
“If there was just some dude on the street corner saying what Kyrie said, or Kanye said, you’d just assume they’re crazy and keep on walking, right?” Cuban said at the time, referencing the rapper Kanye West’s months-long antisemitism scandal. “But when they’re a celebrity, you can’t do that, because you have a platform.”
Forbes’s most recent valuation of the Mavericks, published last month, had the franchise worth $4.5 billion, seventh-highest in the NBA, but multiple reports Tuesday evening stated that sale valuation has been set at less than $4 billion, which most likely helped Cuban maintain operational control.
A generation of Mavericks fans only have known the franchise to be under Cuban’s complete, passionate, very public control, but now, on paper, the Adelsons will own a majority of the franchise.
Though Dirk Nowitzki and now Luka Doncic have been the most prominent on-court faces of the 44-year-old franchise, Cuban for most of the past 23 years has operated the franchise in a hands-on, Jerry Jonesesque style, although the past two season Cuban quietly has ceded most of the day-to-day basketball decisions to general manager Nico Harrison and his staff.
Besides, again, the obvious casino-resort and arena angle, the sale raises questions about how involved Miriam Adelson and her family will be involved long-term, especially since gambling and casino legislation earlier this year again failed to gain enough support of lawmakers to allow for a vote of Texas citizens about whether to legalize sports wagering and casino resorts.
The Mavericks are the third NBA team to be bought by a Jewish billionaire in the past year, following Mat Ishbia’s purchase of the Phoenix Suns (and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury) and Gabe Plotkin’s acquisition of the Charlotte Hornets.
The Dallas Morning News and the Las Vegas Review-Journal contributed to this report.