Russia’s Richest Man Buys Nets

The richest man in Russia—who’s tall enough to play on the team himself—has bought the controlling interest in the New Jersey Nets.

Mikhail D. Prokhorov, the 6-foot-9 tycoon, agreed Wednesday to a $200 million deal that gives him an 80 percent stake in the team and a 45 percent stake in the arena developer Bruce C. Ratner is building in Brooklyn for the team.

The purchase, the New York Times reports, is a rescue for Ratner, who bought the team in 2003 for $300 million and has had $380 million in net losses over the last five years. Under the deal, Ratner will have the controlling interest in the arena when it’s built.

Prokhorov’s move is interesting for several reasons, not least of which is that he would be the only person outside the U.S. or Canada with his own NBA franchise. The deal is subject to approval from 75 percent of the league’s owners.

But the New York Daily News reports that’s likely not going to be a difficult approval to obtain. NBA Commissioner David Stern was smiling about the former nickel-mining magnate’s move.

"That's the latest phenomenon—having international investors in pro sports leagues," Stern told the Daily News. "If you look at the Premier League in England, they've got Russians investing in it, along with Europeans and even people from the United States. When you look at what's going on in the world now, soccer and basketball are the most popular sports. So it's going to be good to see, from our standpoint. He is going to want to help bring our game and our brand to Russia and help develop that there, and that's very good. Plus, he's going to want to help us over here."

Another interesting thing, especially for Nets fans, is that with $9.5 billion, Prokhorov has the deep pockets it could take to make the Nets more of a contender.

Pokhorov made his fortune when he and a partner, Vladimir Potanin, won control of Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest producer of nickel and palladium, in 1995. Pokhorov later sold his share in Norilsk for $7 billion and a piece of an aluminum producer.