Businessman and former NBA player Ulysses Lee “Junior” Bridgeman is buying a 10% stake in the Milwaukee Bucks, according to three sources familiar with the deal. The transaction will value the team at $4 billion.
NBA owners will be notified of the sale in a memo Thursday, added the sources, who asked to remain anonymous because the details of the deal are not public.
Bridgeman, the current owner of Ebony and Jet magazines, is getting a preferred limited partner discount of 15%, or a $3.4 billion valuation, to buy a portion of the team that he played for from 1975 to 1984, the sources said.
He is reported to have a
net worth of more than $600 million after finding success in a variety of businesses ranging from fast-food chains to being a Coca-Cola bottling distributor.