After several years of development, Alibaba has become a domestic business giant, with a market value of more than $200 billion and an annual profit of more than $20 billion.

Tang Tian originally invested 2.5 million in Alibaba, and then followed up one after another, but because of the dilution of shares and the repurchase of Boss Ma, his shares in Ali are only about 2%, but this share, if he sells, is enough to buy the Clippers.

It's just that it's obviously not cost-effective, and even the 2% stake is worth more than the NBA.

What he has to do now is to find someone who is willing to pay.

Tang Tian had met Boss Ma many times before, and it was not difficult to meet Boss Ma as a shareholder, two days after returning to China, the two met in the private teahouse of Ali's headquarters.

There is an assistant to make tea, and the two of them sit across the coffee table to taste tea, and the picture is really Chinese-style.

"You want me to form a consortium to buy the NBA Clippers?" Boss Ma took a sip of tea, put down the cup and looked at Tang Tian.

Although he didn't know basketball and didn't have much contact, after Tang Tian explained the ins and outs of the matter, he probably knew it in his heart.

"Yes, the NBA has developed rapidly in recent years, ten years ago, the value of these teams was still one or two hundred million, look at the recent Warriors, they are all worth one billion, if you invest in it, the appreciation is still very fast." Tang Tian opened his mouth and said.

Don't look at the NBA teams worth billions and billions, for the current boss Ma, it is just a matter of doing it all.

"The U.S. side, are you willing to let us buy it?" Boss Ma seems to be thinking about something else.

"This shouldn't be a big problem, look at Prokhorov before, he is Russian, and he also bought the Nets in his own name before." Tang Tian explained.

The NBA has a change of owners, in addition to having enough money, and also asking the owners of other teams to agree, which is similar to the situation of Boss Ma and Prokhorov.

"I need time to think about it, after all, I don't know much about what you said, but I'll give you an answer as soon as possible." At the end of the conversation, Boss Ma did not give a clear answer.

"By the way, are you interested in selling your 2% stake, I can buy it back now at a higher value than the market." Boss Ma suddenly spoke.

"I still want to ride Ali's big boat." Tang Tian said with a smile, he refused very vaguely.

Boss Ma smiled and didn't ask.

There was no substantial progress in the negotiations with Boss Ma, and Tang Tian could only return to the United States for the time being.

It was also at this time that the Clippers in the United States had attracted a large number of bidders.

The previous stake deal between the Kings and the Warriors made investing in the NBA seem like a surefire deal, and the Clippers are in Los Angeles and have significantly more value and potential than the previous two.

"Boxing Champion" Floyd Mayweather, "Golden Boy" Oscar De La Hoya, business magnate David Guffin, Sterling's good friend Anthony Ressler, etc., there are endless bidders.

Just by looking at this list, you know that this is definitely going to be a bitter bidding battle.

And the pressure on the alliance is still increasing, and when all parties and even the government are extremely resistant to Sterling, they hope that the Clippers can be sold in the shortest possible time.

Along with this pressure, bidders are bidding against each other on the rise.

The original valuation of the Clippers was only $580 million, but in just a few days, it has soared to $1 billion, which is a huge increase that shocked all industry insiders.

At this critical moment, Microsoft magnate Steve Ballmer also announced the bid to join the Clippers, and when he joined, he said something that made other contenders tremble: I will win the Clippers, no matter what the cost, I love this sport.

Ballmer's remarks are domineering, and he does have the confidence, you must know that he is personally worth as much as $30 billion, which most people do not have.

As the bidding continued to climb, Messaway, De La Hoa and others withdrew one after another, and the bidding became a matter between David Gefen, Anthony Ressler and Ballmer.

It was at this moment that Tang Tian finally waited for the news he wanted, and Boss Ma was willing to participate in the bidding for the Clippers with him.

The addition of Boss Ma immediately caused an uproar in the alliance, and if you really want to take personal assets as an example, Boss Ma is worth close to 20 billion.

The Clippers' prices are still climbing.

1.1 billion, 1.3 billion, 1.5 billion, 1.6 billion......

When the price came to 1.7 billion, Ressler and Ge Ffen both withdrew one after another, on the one hand, their consortium had reached the limit of what they could bear, and on the other hand, buying a team was an investment, and it was necessary to pay attention to the return on investment ratio.

The new collective bargaining agreement and the Clippers' new TV contract are about to be signed, making the Clippers' piece of the pie very tempting, but to be honest, the team's profit in a year is also limited, in other words, if you throw so much into it, it will take more than ten years to recoup the cost, and most people will not do it.

As a result, this competition seems to have finally become a war between Boss Ma and Ballmer.

1.7 billion, 1.8 billion, 1.82 billion, 1.85 billion, 1.9 billion ......

It's like an auction, with bids on both sides.

Finally, after the Clippers' selling price reached 2 billion, and Ballmer had no intention of stopping, Boss Ma called Tang Tian.

"I don't think it's a good price for an investment, and if you're short of money, I can buy back your shares so you can continue to bid with Ballmer, but I think he's going to be aiming for it." Boss Ma was straightforward and told Tang Tian everything.

At this point, Tang Tian has done everything he can, in fact, without Ballmer, the Clippers have been taken by him and Boss Ma, but Ballmer seems to be really interested in basketball, and if they really want to fight to the end, they still have to lose.

Again, there's not enough money!

In the end, Boss Ma also announced the withdrawal of his consortium, and Ballmer successfully bought the Clippers for 2 billion.

The price, exactly the same as in the previous life.

In fact, if it weren't for Boss Ma's intervention, the price might be between 1.7~1.8 billion, which is also in line with the price sold a year earlier than in the previous life.

It's just like Boss Ma said to Tang Tian on the phone, Ballmer is too valuable, and this money is an investment for him, but he wants to invest and wants to win, unless Buffett and Bill Gates before the donation come out, no one can bid for him.

Tang Tian, in the end, failed.

After all, the business field is not the basketball court he belongs to, and if he wants to become fat in one bite, he needs to exercise more to exercise his teeth.

However, after the Clippers were officially bought by Ballmer, many owners of the league couldn't help but move.

You must know that Sterling only spent 12.4 million to buy the Clippers 30 years ago, which is nearly 20 times more!

And even before the sale, the Clippers were only valued at 580 million!

The most direct signal from this is that now is a great time to sell the team and reap the fortune!