‘Not here to take photos’: Aussie billionaire buys an NBA team

Mike Cannon-Brookes has spent some of his $15 billion net worth on an NBA franchise, in an Australian first.

If Joe Ingles wasn’t reason enough, Australian fans now have an added reason to make the Utah Jazz our country’s favourite NBA team.

Tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes has become the first Australian to become a minority owner of an NBA franchise after the Jazz were sold for $1.66 billion this week.

Cannon-Brookes, who has an estimated net worth of $15 billion based on the $60 billion value of Atlassian, the project management software business he started in Sydney, is one of two minority owners brought in by Ryan Smith.

Smith, the founder of survey software company Qualtrics, has fulfilled a long-held dream by purchasing his favourite team from longtime owners the Miller family.

Smith and Cannon-Brookes are joined by Accel investor Ryan Sweeney. Sweeney’s company was an early investor in Atlassian and Qualtrics.

The trio are all in their early 40s and will retain their full-time jobs but are committed to continue the Jazz’s long history of winning.

“We’re three pretty competitive dudes,” Cannon-Brookes told Forbes. “We’re not here to take photos.”

Mike Cannon-Brookes (right) with Ryan Smith at a Jazz game.

“The NBA is very technology-centric and has a long history of entrepreneurial owners; just in the last decade the major transactions have all been done by tech entrepreneurs, so that reflects the way the league runs,” he added in an interview with Nine newspapers.

The NBA’s Board of Governors formally approved the sale on Saturday, Smith as a “fantastic addition” to the league.

“Ryan Smith is a forward-thinking, community-minded entrepreneur and business leader who will be a fantastic addition to our league,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.

“As a lifelong fan of the Utah Jazz and more recently as one of their key marketing partners, Ryan has demonstrated his deep commitment to the Jazz and the Utah community and there’s no doubt he will bring that same level of dedication to the operation of the team.”

Forbes magazine ranked the Jazz at 21st in value among the NBA’s 30 clubs earlier this year at $1.55 billion

The sale brings Smith a majority interest in the team, the Jazz’s home, Vivint Arena, plus developmental basketball and baseball clubs in Salt Lake City.

Donovan Mitchell and Joe Ingles. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Smith, a lifelong Utah resident, has been a corporate partner of the Jazz for many years, including a philanthropic patch that has raised $25 million in recent years.

The Miller family will retain a minority interest in the Jazz, who went 44-28 last season and lost to Denver in the first round of the playoffs.

“We all owe a great debt to the Miller family for the amazing stewardship they have had over this asset for the past 35 years,” Smith said earlier this year.

“My wife and I are absolutely humbled and excited about the opportunity to take the team forward far into the future, especially with the greatest fans in the NBA … We look forward to building upon their lifelong work.”

– with AFP

Originally published as ‘Not here to take photos’: Aussie billionaire buys an NBA team