Feel sorry for Donald Sterling? Here's why you shouldn't

Ray Slover

Feel sorry for Donald Sterling? Here's why you shouldn't image

Before he became the face of scandal, Donald Sterling was a self-made billionaire in residential real estate. Now 80, his life of financial dealings finds him a success.

As a sports magnate, Sterling leaves a disgrace. His racist comments, captured on widely publicized recordings, were made to female companion V. Stiviano, who is far less than half his age. Aside from his shameful statements, the NBA team he will soon no longer own has been a complete failure until recent years.

Here's where the story gets interesting. While he is shunted aside, by his wife, no less, and her claim he is mentally incapable of handling the business, Sterling is about to make $1 billion on his half of the Clippers' sale to Microsoft billionaire Steve Ballmer.

SN's SEAN DEVENEY: $2 billion for the Clippers? Here's why

In June 1981, Sterling bought the Clippers for $12.5 million.

According to the New York Times, not only is $2 billion an outrageous sum for an NBA franchise, much less one that has won nothing and plays second fiddle to the Los Angeles Lakers in its home market; but it also is an outrageous return on Sterling's investment. The sale could bring a return of 15,900 percent over 33 years.

Boom.

Sterling's real estate holdings can't match that performance. Had he plunked his money in stocks, the Times reports, he wouldn't have gotten nearly as much. Even swapping greenbacks for gold would have paled in comparison.

Ballmer, it must be noted, made more on his Microsoft stock over time. That's why he can afford to pound so much cash into a professional sports franchise. But then, this deal isn't about turning a profit.

"This reflects an enormously wealthy person buying a toy," Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank, told the Los Angeles Times. "It's not a financial investment."

Hey, it worked for Paul Allen, another Microsoft billionaire who owns the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers and the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.

A chart with the LA Times story shows only the $2.15 billion sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012 tops the Clippers fetch among U.S. pro sports teams. Next closest: $1.05 billion for the NFL's Cleveland Browns. No, really; the Browns.

Before this deal, the record price for an NBA franchise was in the neighborhood of $550 million, the amount paid for the Milwaukee Bucks less than a month ago.

Remember, Sterling could win $1 billion in his suit against the NBA for alleged meddling in his business.

About that: According to NBC Sports, the agreement the NBA reached with Shelly Sterling (you remember her; she's married to Stiviano's "silly rabbit") says the Sterling family trust would pay damages if the league loses its suit to Donald. So, if he wins, Donald Sterling would pay himself.

Scruples aside, including incidents of allege shady dealing with renters than landed him in hot water with government officials, Donald Sterling will walk away with an outlandish return on his NBA investment, no matter how poorly he handled it. Whether he wants it or not; whether he realizes it or not.

Ray Slover