The richest American owner of a major sports team has an estimated net worth of $156 billion—the ninth-largest fortune of any human on the planet—and is a famously enthusiastic fan of his NBA franchise. Just don’t expect to see him at a game this season.

That’s because Steve Ballmer, who bought the Los Angeles Clippers in 2014 after the league handed former owner Donald Sterling a lifetime ban for making racist remarks, now finds himself suspended by the league as well—albeit only for a year this time.

The NBA announced the punishment—which also included the Clippers losing five future first-round draft picks and being fined $30 million—as it released a report this month that concluded the team had circumvented the salary cap with secret sponsorship deals to sign star forward Kawhi Leonard. (Federal prosecutors in New York have also reportedly opened an investigation to explore those contracts.)

The Clippers initially vowed to “vigorously challenge these findings and penalties through every avenue available to us,” but Ballmer wrote in a statement on Sunday night: “We have communicated to the NBA that we are complying with the penalties assessed by the league, have paid the fine and are moving forward. While there are still disagreements concerning the findings in the report, this is not where I want to focus.” That means Ballmer will be temporarily barred from practices and games at the Intuit Dome, the $2 billion basketball palace he opened two years ago.

It isn’t the only recent scandal to land in an owner’s box. Billionaire investor Mark Walter is under scrutiny by federal prosecutors over a failure to disclose financial ties between insurers he controls and his other firms, and in August agreed to sell the Los Angeles Lakers from a sports empire that also includes MLB’s Dodgers. Meanwhile, San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York, son of the team’s co-chairwoman Denise DeBartolo York, was arrested last month on suspicion of engaging in prostitution and pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and possessing criminal tools.

Forbes estimates Walter’s net worth at $7.3 billion and the York family’s at $10 billion, landing them squarely on this year’s Forbes 400—the definitive ranking of the wealthiest Americans, which will be published on Tuesday. But the list of the richest American sports team owners is even more exclusive, and both fall well short of its $12.2 billion cutoff, which is up 21% from 2025’s $10.1 billion.

Together, the top 20 owners are worth an estimated $666 billion, a 10% increase from last year’s $607 billion. Their holdings include controlling stakes in 37 major franchises: ten teams in the NFL, eight in the NBA, seven in MLS, four in the NHL, three in England’s Premier League, two in the Women’s Super League and one each from MLB, the WNBA and Italy’s Serie A.

The 70-year-old Ballmer tops the list for the 12th straight year, but the vast majority of his wealth stems from the former Microsoft CEO’s stock in the tech giant. Strictly in terms of sports franchises, no one has a larger portfolio than Stan Kroenke—who runs six major teams and has an estimated net worth of $27.6 billion, making him the seventh-richest American owner—and his sports empire is set to expand further with his agreement this month to buy a majority stake in the Los Angeles Angels from Arte Moreno. Since last year, the 79-year-old Kroenke—who owns the Los Angeles Rams and Arsenal FC, among several other teams—has seen his fortune grow an impressive 30%.

Yet that appreciation was actually exceeded over the past 12 months by two fellow sports owners. No. 17 Dan Friedkin, who owns the Everton men’s and women’s soccer teams as well as AS Roma, is up 31% to $12.7 billion, and No. 20 Jimmy Haslam, who owns the Cleveland Browns, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Columbus Crew, leads the 2026 ranking with 40% growth, to $12.2 billion.

The upswing means that venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, who recently closed his purchase of the Seattle Seahawks for an NFL-record $9.6 billion, misses the list despite a net worth estimated at $11.4 billion.

Only three of the top 20 owners are poorer than they were in 2025: the Dallas Mavericks’ Miriam Adelson (who is No. 4 at $33.5 billion, down 12%), the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Dan Gilbert (No. 10, $22.9 billion, 14%) and Philip Anschutz of the Los Angeles Kings and LA Galaxy (No. 12, $19.3 billion, 0.5%).

Three billionaires who appeared in 2025’s ranking fall off the owners list this year: the Atlanta Hawks’ Antony Ressler, the Miami Heat’s Micky Arison and the Detroit Pistons’ Tom Gores, all of whom are still worth at least $10.6 billion. That opened up space for three newcomers: Friedkin, Haslam and Peter Mallouk (tied for 13th at $16.5 billion), who bought MLS’s Sporting Kansas City early this year and was added to Forbes’ list of the world’s billionaires shortly thereafter.

AMERICA’S 20 RICHEST SPORTS TEAM OWNERS

Net Worth: $156 billion

Team: Los Angeles Clippers

Source of Wealth:........

© Forbes