Michael Jordan has sold NBA team Charlotte Hornets

NBA legend Michael Jordan is selling the Charlotte Hornets to a group of investors led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall, the team announced Friday. 

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Aside from Plotkin and Schnall, the group of investors include North Carolina rapper Jermaine “J. Cole” Cole and country music singer Eric Church.

Jordan has been the Hornets’ majority owner since 2010 and will remain a minority owner after the transaction, which must still be approved by majority of league owners.

Plotkin, the founder of California venture capital firm Tallwoods Capital, has been a minority owner of the team and on the NBA’s governing board since 2019. Schnall, the co-president of New York private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, is a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks. Schnall is selling his investment in the Hawks, the Hornets said. 

As part of the transaction, Plotkin, Schnall and the others will also take majority control of the Hornets’ farm team, the Greensboro Swarm. They will also operate the Hornets’ arena — the Spectrum Center. 

Jordan is currently the only Black majority owner in the NBA. In his 13 years as owner of the Hornets, Jordan’s most noteworthy move might have been moving the team back to Charlotte after it had spent years in New Orleans, CBS Sports reported. 

This is a developing story.