Showing posts with label Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Probably negotiating to drop the fine/ban

August 13, 2014 Donald Sterling , Latimes.com 0 Comments
NBA Files Counterclaim Against Donald Sterling

By Nathan Fenno, Aug. 12, 2014, Latimes.com

The NBA filed a counterclaim against Donald Sterling and the Sterling Family Trust in federal court Monday, saying the Clippers owner caused “devastating and incalculable harm” to the league.

Filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in response to Sterling’s June antitrust lawsuit against the NBA and Commissioner Adam Silver, the counterclaim seeks to recover damages related to the owner’s recorded comments denigrating blacks.

Sterling must indemnify the NBA against losses and litigation according to the league’s constitution and a July 2005 document he signed, the counterclaim said. Shelly Sterling also signed an agreement in May to indemnify the NBA for any litigation costs related to her husband’s lifetime ban from the league, his $2.5-million fine and the franchise’s sale.

Read the full story:  www.latimes.com

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Monday, July 28, 2014

Scam lawsuit

July 28, 2014 Donald Sterling , Judge Michael Levanas 0 Comments
Donald Sterling Loses Court Battle To Prevent Sale Of Clippers

Donald Sterling
By Nathan Fenno, Jul. 28, 2014, Latimes.com

A judge gave Shelly Sterling a sweeping victory Monday afternoon and cleared the way for Steve Ballmer’s record $2-billion purchase of the Clippers to proceed.

In a tentative oral decision, Judge Michael Levanas ruled in Sterling’s favor on all three counts and rejected virtually all of Donald Sterling’s arguments in the probate trial in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The ruling included the extraordinary step of granting Shelly Sterling’s request for an order that allows the sale to be completed regardless of an appellate court’s intervention.

Levanas also ruled that Shelly Sterling acted properly when two doctors declared her husband mentally incapacitated in May under terms of the Sterling Family Trust before she proceeded to agree to sell the Clippers to Ballmer.

Donald Sterling revoked the trust in June, but Levanas said the court retained jurisdiction over the matter.

Levanas made the announcement after almost two hours of closing arguments between lawyers for Donald Sterling and Shelly Sterling.

Read the full story:  www.latimes.com

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Sunday, July 27, 2014

"Racist" pays him $18 mil, Hired Black Coach

July 27, 2014 Chris Paul , Doc Rivers 0 Comments
Clippers' Paul Might Lead Boycott If Sterling Remains Owner

By Fox Sports, Jul. 25, 2014, Foxsports.com

Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul has spoken with head coach Doc Rivers about orchestrating a boycott if Donald Sterling still owns the team when the 2014-15 regular season begins.

"That's something me and Doc are both talking about," Paul told ESPN. "Something has to happen, and something needs to happen soon -- sooner rather than later."

Added Paul: "We're all going to talk about it. We're all definitely going to talk about it. Doc, Blake [Griffin], DJ [DeAndre Jordan]. It's unacceptable."

Sterling came under fire when his racist comments in an audio recording went public during this past postseason, ultimately leading to a lifetime ban from the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver vowing to remove him from ownership.

During his testimony earlier this week in the trial that could decide whether Shelly Sterling can sell the Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, interim Clippers CEO Dick Parsons said he didn't think Rivers would return if there weren't a change in ownership.

Closing arguments in that trial are set for Monday.


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Saturday, June 7, 2014

Clippers' Sterling Wants NBA To Revoke $2.5 Mil Fine --Hell, he'll make NBA apologize

June 07, 2014 Associated Press , Donald Sterling 0 Comments
Donald Sterling
By Tim Abdollah, Jun. 7, 2014, Associated Press

Los Angeles Clippers co-owner Shelly Sterling would continue to play a role in the team under terms of the pending sale to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, according to two individuals close to the negotiations.

The individuals, who are not authorized to speak publicly, told The Associated Press that the $2 billion deal allows for up to 10 percent of the team — or $200 million — to be spun off into a charitable foundation that Shelly Sterling would essentially run. The deal was negotiated by Shelly Sterling after husband Donald Sterling's racist remarks to a girlfriend were publicized and the NBA moved to oust him as team owner.

One of the individuals said Shelly Sterling and Ballmer would be co-chairs of the foundation. The individuals said the foundation would target underprivileged families, battered women, minorities and inner city youths. "To benefit those on the receiving end of Donald's rather abhorrent remarks," one individual said.

The idea to allow Shelly to continue some role in the team was floated early on by her attorney, Pierce O'Donnell — neither he nor Shelly Sterling responded to a request for comment — and it was enthusiastically agreed to by the NBA. "The NBA was all over it in terms of support," one of the individuals said. "It gave her a meaningful role and stake in the team, and gave the NBA 100 percent sale of the team."

NBA officials have not yet responded to requests to comment on the deal.

But it's unclear if this deal will ever materialize as Donald Sterling still had not signed off on the deal's terms because the NBA would not agree to revoke its $2.5 million fine and lifetime ban, according to one of the individuals.

Sterling had agreed to sell the team Wednesday and drop his $1 billion federal lawsuit against the NBA assuming "all their differences had been resolved." But now he's considering continuing the suit after being told by intermediaries the NBA won't budge on the punishments doled out by Commissioner Adam Silver after Sterling's racist comments were publicized.

Sterling's consent to his wife Shelly Sterling's potentially record-breaking $2 billion deal was the first sign of an end to weeks of uncertainty. The NBA's owners must approve the deal.

Read the full story: www.abcnews.go.com


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Wednesday, June 4, 2014

BREAKING: Donald Sterling Approves Sale Of Clippers, Agrees To Drop $1 Billion Lawsuit Against NBA

June 04, 2014 Adam Silver , Donald Sterling 0 Comments
By Ramona Shelburne, Jun. 4, 2014, Espn.com

 Banned owner Donald Sterling has approved the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and won't pursue further legal action related to the transaction, his attorney said in an email to ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne on Wednesday.

 Max Blecher said Donald Sterling had settled with wife Shelly regarding the sale and that the NBA agreed to not sue him for anything a day after Sterling, in an interview to NBC4 during a charity function, said he was ready to "move on."

 "I feel fabulous, I feel very good," Sterling told NBC4 on Tuesday night when asked how he felt about his wife, Shelly, selling the team. "Everything is just the way it should be, really. It may have worked out differently, but it's good. It's all good."

 Donald had sued the NBA on Friday seeking $1 billion in damages but will withdraw that suit, Blecher said. Commissioner Adam Silver was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

 "I'm OK, I'm OK," Sterling said Tuesday. "Is the NBA OK? I'm not sure about that. Is [NBA commissioner] Adam Silver OK? I'm sure he's OK."

 Once the NBA approved Ballmer's bid to buy the Clippers on Friday, a hearing to determine Donald Sterling's future was canceled. Instead, the NBA Board of Governors will vote on the deal agreed upon by Shelly Sterling and Ballmer, who bid $2 billion for the team.

 Shelly Sterling, as part of a settlement with the league, and a condition of the sale to Ballmer, had indemnified the NBA against future legal action by her husband, essentially meaning that even if he won his lawsuit, the Sterling Family Trust -- which she controlled after he was found by neurologists to be mentally incapacitated -- would pay the damages.

 The NBA has set no timetable for a vote to approve Ballmer, but he is expected to easily be accepted by 3/4ths of the other 29 owners.

Source:  www.espn.go.com

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Why Deal To Sale Clippers Took Only One Week --Ever see a deal so complicated get done so quickly?

June 04, 2014 Donald Sterling , Los Angeles Clippers 0 Comments
By Eriq Gardner, Jun. 4, 2014

 Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's $2 billion agreement to buy the Los Angeles Clippers is astonishing not only for the price tag. The deal came together in less than a week -- the corporate-transaction equivalent of an alley-oop with 0.1 seconds left. The Friday before Memorial Day, BobBaradaran and Pierce O'Donnell, L.A. lawyers representing Clippers owner Donald Sterling's estranged wife, Shelly Sterling, decided the deal needed to get done quickly. The NBA's board of governors was scheduled to vote June 3 on forcing a sale, and the attorneys wanted to beat a litigious Donald Sterling to the courthouse. Without a prospectus that would take six months to prepare,Baradaran entertained dozens of calls from interested parties during the holiday weekend. He tells THR there were 20 serious bidders, fromOprah Winfrey and David Geffen (partnering with executives of THR parent Guggenheim Partners) to a group out of the Middle East, and all were curious about terms of the team's TV rights deals.

The eight most credible bidders were given not a typical 100-page contract to review but rather a single sheet with an empty box for a dollar figure and a space to list noneconomic demands. Ballmer, who outbid a $1.6 billion offer from the Winfrey group, was crowned the winner the day after the May 28 deadline, and he and Shelly Sterling signed sale papers at the Greenberg Glusker law firm that evening. "The only time in history a deal has been put together faster was when J.P. Morgan took over Bear Stearns on the eve of the financial meltdown," boasts Baradaran, whose team announced the transaction hours before Donald Sterling's $1 billion lawsuit against the NBA hit.

Read the full story:  www.hollywoodreporter.com

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Friday, May 30, 2014

Sterling Ruled Mentally Unfit--Can't Prevent Sale --Was he mentally fit when he signed authority to Shelly?

May 30, 2014 Donald Sterling , Los Angeles Clippers 0 Comments
Donald Sterling

Brent Schrotenboer, May 30, 2014, Usatoday.com

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling does not have the authority to stop a $2 billion sale of his team because he has been determined to be mentally unfit to make decisions related to the family trust, a person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

The Sterling Family Trust owns the team, with Donald and his wife Shelly each owning a 50% share. The trust spells out provisions and procedures related to the mental capacity of the trustees, and Donald Sterling did not meet the standard in a determination by experts, giving his wife sole decision-making power for the trust, the person said.

Shelly Sterling reached a deal Thursday with former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to sell the Clippers for a record $2 billion. The contract was sent to the NBA for approval a few days before the league's Board of Governors was set to vote on whether to terminate the Sterlings' ownership of the team.

BALLMER: Details on record-setting sale

ARMOUR: $2 billion too much for Clippers

As part of the deal, Ballmer gets 100% of the team, though Shelly Sterling still could be involved in the franchise in some other capacity, the person said.

"Shelly Sterling was acting under her authority as the sole trustee of the Sterling Family Trust which owns the Clippers," said a news release issued late Thursday by Shelly Sterling's representatives.

"I am delighted that we are selling the team to Steve, who will be a terrific owner," Shelly Sterling said in the statement. "We have worked for 33 years to build the Clippers into a premiere NBA franchise. I am confident that Steve will take the team to new levels of success."

Donald Sterling's attorneys didn't return calls Thursday night from USA TODAY Sports. After Sterling authorized his wife in writing last week to sell the team on his behalf, his attorney this week said he had reversed course, did not want to sell and instead wanted to fight the NBA, which banned him for life on April 29.

But Shelly Sterling continued to entertain offers for the team even as her husband's attorney said he did not want to sell.

Read the full story:  www.usatoday.com

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