Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov will be the first non-American owner of an NBA franchise as he bought 80% of the New Jersey Nets from former owner Bruce Reitner.
Prokhorov, with an estimated fortune of over 9 billion dollars which makes him the richest man in Russia, plans to move the team to Brooklyn, renaming it Brooklyn Nets, and build a new arena which he will finance at 45%.
The 44-year old self-made billionaire will invest a total of 200 million dollars in the project. At 198cm he declares himself a basketball fanatic, as he played basketball himself in his youth, and he also holds shares in CSKA Moscow.
