Who is Ted Leonsis? Closer look at billionaire owner of Washington Wizards

The Washington Wizards are owned by Ted Leonsis, a billionaire who became the sole owner of the team in June 2010 after paying $170 million for the remaining 56% of the team. Before that, he was already a part-owner of the franchise after the death of Abe Pollin, the owner before Leonsis.

Leonsis was born in Brooklyn, New York, on Jan. 8, 1957, and is of Greek descent. His parents worked as a waiter and secretary, and his grandparents were mill workers. He mowed lawns to earn extra income and met Jim Shannon, an alumnus of Georgetown University. Shannon helped Ted gain admission to the university.

According to sources, he was the first in his family to make it to a university. Leonsis specialized in American studies and was at the top of his class when he graduated in 1977.

In 1994, he started working for AOL (America Online) as a senior executive. He helped the company increase its membership to over 8 million during his 13-year stay with the company. At one point, he was the president and vice-chairman of the company.

Leonsis founded Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns multiple sports organizations that include the NBA's Wizards, Washington Mystics, Washington Capitals and the G-League's Capital City Go-Go. He also serves as the majority owner, chairman and CEO.

Monumental Sports also owns Capital One and manages the MedStar Capitals Iceplex and George Mason University's EagleBank Arena.

He's also written a couple of books centered around business approaches. He wrote about Blue Magic: The People, Power and Politics Behind the IBM PC and The Business of Happiness: 6 Secrets to Extraordinary Success in Work and Life.

Ted Leonsis is married to Lynn Leonsis and they have a son and a daughter, Elle and Zach. They've been married since 1987.

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Ted Leonsis plans to relocate the Wizards

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported earlier that the Wizards are on the verge of being relocated. This came after news about Ted Leonsis' plans to join Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin in a press conference this week.

"Monumental Sports and Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis plans to join Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin in Alexandria, Va., for a news conference on Wednesday to unveil plans for a proposed new arena complex and entertainment district for Wizards and NHL’s Capitals," Woj reported.

Woj reported that both the Wizards and the Capitals could be relocated to Virginia. There haven't been any developments regarding the relocation, but the team's lack of success over the past few seasons could play a significant role in their relocation.