After months of legal wrangling, the $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was completed today.
In a brief statement, the NBA confirmed the deal, saying the sale was finalized “following the entry of an order by a California court confirming the authority of Shelly Sterling, on behalf of the Sterling Family Trust, to sell the team.
“The NBA Board of Governors previously approved the sale and Ballmer is now the Clippers Governor,” according to the league.
Attorneys for Donald Sterling had filed a petition with a state appeals court on Friday asking for an emergency order blocking the sale. The court declined to take any action, since a ruling by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas allowing Sterling’s wife, Shelly, to move ahead with the sale had not been finalized.
It was not immediately clear if Donald Sterling’s attorneys would go back to the appeals court in hopes of negating the deal.
