With a $6 billion pricetag, Jeff Bezos may be the only man who can afford to buy the Celtics and Bill Simmons believes he will be a legitimate suitor.
Bezos ranks in the top three richest people in the world, with Forbes ranking his net worth at $194 billion, which ranks him as the the third richest person in the world, behind Elon Musk ($195B) and Bernard Arnault & Family ($233B).
The Amazon founder is interested in buying the Celtics, after the current owners, the Grousbeck family announced their plans to sell the team in June.
Bill Simmons believes Bezos will be a frontrunner.
“The Celtics themselves, the Grousbeck family, the dad of the majority owner Wyc is driving the sale,” Bill Simmons said on his podcast. “He’s 90, he’s a legend, he’s going to (get) 25 times what he paid for the team, and he just wants the highest price, he’s not like, ‘Oh these local guys, let’s cut them a deal.’ He doesn’t care, he wants the biggest price he could possibly get. In the last few days there’s been some I think legitimate buzz about Jeff Bezos buying the Celtics, and I think it’s real. I think he’s gonna be one of the suitors,” Simmons said. “Which got me thinking, why would Jeff Bezos, when he’s looking at the Celtics, what is he seeing? What does he want? I think the only way it makes sense — I mean, granted, he has a gajillion dollars — but it’s one of the crown-jewel franchises, right? That’s why you get it. To him it’d be no different than if he bought this famous, gigantic, $300 million yacht. But I think it’s real that he’s potentially in the mix for this.”
Simmons went on to explain the reasoning behind the eye-watering $6 billion pricetag.
“It’s a crazy price, but they’re probably gonna get it,” Simmons said. “They want the $6 billion because they want expansion teams in Seattle and Vegas — and Mexico City’s kind of looming as the third team — but they want to get $6 billion apiece for the two franchises for expansion, which would mean a check of $400 million to every NBA owner, all 30.”
Bezos tried to purchase NFL team the Washington Commanders, but was reportedly outbid by Josh Harris, the Devils and 76ers owner who bought the team for $6.05 billion.
So it seems he certainly has an appetite for purchasing American sports teams. Watch this space.