Julia Koch has an agreement to buy a 15 percent stake in BSE Global, the parent company of the Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty and the Barclays Center, said a source briefed on the deal. The deal puts the valuation of the company at near $6 billion.
This is Koch’s first foray into sports ownership. She is the widow of David Koch, a billionaire who ran Koch Industries. David Koch became one of the richest men in the United States and was a prominent donor to the Republican Party.
Julia Koch will invest into BSE herself but intends to include her three children into the endeavor. She is the 23rd wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes, with personal holdings valued at $64.3 billion. She inherited a 42 percent stake in Koch Industries when David died in 2019, according to Forbes. She sits on the board of directors for Koch Industries but her public profile has been muted.
Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai will maintain control of BSE and will still run both teams, but the transaction will also give Koch a right to make a first offer if there is a sale of control of the franchises.
Tsai bought control of the Nets from Mikhail Prokhorov, the franchise’s erstwhile owner, in 2019 in the second half of a two-stage sale. That transaction valued the franchise at $2.35 billion. He…
