Russian billionaire sold the Brooklyn Nets 'under pressure from Putin'

3.2.22
Billionaire Russian oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov sold the Brooklyn Nets for $2.3 billion in 2019 under pressure from Vladimir Putin to prove his loyalty, according to a new report. 'Putin strongly suggested he sell the Nets' and Prokhorov risked losing his fortune in Russia if he refused, a source close to the situation told the New York Post in a report on Tuesday. Prokhorov, a financial and precious metals tycoon worth an estimated $11.4 billion, first sold a 49 percent stake in the Nets to Alibaba executive Joseph Tsai for $1 billion in 2019. The following year he sold Tsai his remaining 51 percent stake for $1.35 billion, in addition to unloading the Barclays Center arena for $1 billion, in the biggest transaction ever for a US sports team. The purported reason for the sale? 'You couldn't be pro-Russian and own an NBA team,' another source who knows Prokhorov told the outlet. Representatives for Prokhorov did not immediately respond to an inquiry from DailyMail.com, but a spokesman for the billionaire strongly denied that he had been under pressure to sell in a statement to the Post.

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