The Boston Celtics are coming off their record 18th NBA championship and are not showing any signs of slowing down.
That’s why it was such a surprise on Monday that reports indicated the Celtics’ ownership group, led by Wyc Grousbeck, are putting the team up for sale.
Grousbeck and Co. have owned the organization since all the way back in 2002. Now, they are looking to cash in with Forbes valuing the Boston Celtics at a whopping $4.7 billion. Here, we look at the top-10 candidates to buy the Boston Celtics.
John Henry, Fenway Sports Group
This would be a natural move for the Boston Celtics. Henry and his Fenway Sports Group owns MLB’s Boston Red Sox, Soccer’s Liverpool and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins. They also have a stake in the PGA Tour and NASCAR’s Roush Renway Keselowski Racing. Henry’s net worth is said to be $5.1 billion.
Jeff Bezos
Bezos has been linked to several opportunities in the past when it comes to buying a professional sports organization. Most recently, he was in on the NFL’s Washington Commanders before they were sold to Josh Harris. He’s worth a cool $161 billion and could buy the Boston Celtics outright without any issues. The one hiccup here could be current issues with the Bezos’ owned Washington Post.
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Larry Ellison
Yet another billionaire that has been linked to professional sports teams in the past, Ellison could make a ton of sense for the Boston Celtics. He was a finalist to buy the Golden State Warriors before they were sold to a group headed by Joe Lacob and Peter Guber back in 2010. Forbes estimates Ellison’s net worth to be $158 billion.
Rob Walton
The heir to the Walmart fortune, Walton purchased the NFL’s Denver Broncos for a then-record $4.65 billion back in 2022. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is part of the ownership group. Said group could easily get involved in talks to buy the Celtics. Money is not an issue here with Walton worth a cool $67.4 billion.
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Phil Knight
Phil Knight is 86 years old. The co-founder of Nike has never really shown much interest in owning a professional sports team. Rather, a lot of what he has done outside of building the Nike brand coincides with the billionaire’s love for the University of Oregon. But this is a unique opportunity. Historic franchises like the Boston Celtics are not put up for sale too often.
Abigail Johnson
A native of Boston, Abigail Johnson is an under-the-radar option to buy the Celtics. She’s the granddaughter of Fidelity Investments founder Edward C. Johnson II and has an estimated net worth of $25.5 billion. The Harvard grad is considered one of the most-powerful women in business and has a ton of ties to the Boston area. Obviously, a purchase like this would be a major investment.
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Steven Cohen
The New York Mets’ owner buying a Boston-based franchise? That just does not seem right in the grand scheme of things. What we do know is that Cohen had been attempting to get into the professional sports game long before buying the Mets back in October of 2020. He has interest in continuing this, and the Boston Celtics would make perfect sense.
Robert Kraft
Kraft purchased the NFL’s New England Patriots for a mere $172 million in 1994. Thirty years later, and the organization is said to be worth a cool $7 billion. Talk about a major investment return for the billionaire. Obviously, he’s a legend in the Boston area after overseeing the Patriots’ dynasty. It just makes too much sense to buy the Boston Celtics.
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MacKenzie Scott
Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife is more into philanthropy than anything else. After acquiring a ton of his fortune in their divorce settlement, Scott has donated $12 billion. While she had promised to give away her entire fortune (valued at $37.1 billion), investing in the Celtics could go a long way in Scott’s philanthropic endeavours moving forward.
Jerry Jones
Why the heck not? Jerry Jones never turns down a great business opportunity. Buying the Boston Celtics would be just that. Sure, Jones is 81-year-old and enjoying the twilight of his life. But it’s all about business for the self-made billionaire. Remember, this dude bought the Dallas Cowboys for a laughable $140 million back in 1989. It is now the most-valuable North American professional franchise at $9 billion. Let that sink in for a second.