Getting Clipped

So, what do you do when you leave your job at Microsoft and have a lot of time to spare -- not to mention $20 billion to spare.

This just in. 

ESPN reports that an agreement has been reached for former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to buy the Los Angeles Clippers.  Making this all the more odd is that just yesterday current beleaguered owner Donald Sterling filed a 30+ page legal challenge that he wouldn't selling.  Perhaps changing his mind is that the reported selling price is $2 billion.  The next highest sale of an NBA team was just months ago when the Milwaukee Bucks sold for $550 million.  One might consider this overpaying by a tad, but...well, if you have deep pockets and big plans, oh, who knows.

One reason why this has been able to move so fast is that the offer is coming from Ballmer only, with no problematic issues of partners.  And there would be no problem with the NBA having to do a lengthy due diligence on whether Steve Ballmer has the money.

To be very clear, there's no report of Donald Sterling signing off on the deal.  But most analysts suspect he'll take MONEY MONEY and HUGE AMOUNT OF MONEY and run.  But then, this is Donald Sterling, so who knows.