Who is the Majority Owner of the Washington Wizards?

The Washington Wizards are a prominent professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. and compete in the Eastern Conference in the NBA. Established in 1961 as the Chicago Packers, the team went through a series of name changes and relocations and eventually came to be known as the Washington Wizards.

Over the past few decades, the Wizards have more or less been an average team with lots of talent, but limited upside. However, during the 70s and 80s, the Wizards were one of the best teams in the NBA. They reached the Finals four times, winning the championship once in 1978.

Under the leadership of team President Michael Winger, GM Will Dawkins and head coach Wes Unseld Jr., the franchise is currently looking to build around Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma.

Washington Wizards Majority Owner

Ted Leonsis is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Monumental Sports & Entertainment Company, which owns the Capital One Arena, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, and the Washington Wizards. In March of 2010, Leonsis spent around $170 million to acquire the remaining 56% of the team and the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena), becoming the majority owner of the Wizards in 2010.

The deal was made public after months of negotiations with the Pollin family. Abe Pollin served as the team’s owner before, who bought the team from David Trager in 1964 for just over a million dollars and relocated it from Baltimore to Washington in 1973. Pollin continued to own the team till his sad passing in 2009 and came to be known as one of the longest-serving team owners in North American sports history.

In 1999, Leonsis bought a 44% stake in the Wizards as part of his purchase of the NHL’s Washington Capitals who up until then were owned by Abe Pollin as well.

Minority owners of the Wizards

In June 2023, a Qatari sovereign wealth fund purchased roughly 5% stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, making it the first instance of a foreign government investing in the U.S. sports market.

Jeff Skoll, former president of eBay, also invested around $300 million in December 2022 for a minority stake of less than 10% in the Wizards parent company Monumental Sports.

These investments are believed to be the result of the NBA’s new regulations introduced in November 2022, which allow institutional investors including sovereign wealth funds to purchase passive, non-controlling minority stakes in NBA teams.

All investment proposals are required to adhere to policy guidelines before being reviewed by the NBA board for approval.