Ex-Microsoft CEO set to buy LA Clippers

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has agreed to buy the Los Angeles Clippers for a record-breaking $2 billion. Now it's up to the NBA to decide whether the deal goes through.

Shelly Sterling, who recently took control of the Clippers from her estranged husband Donald, said in a statement issued late Thursday that she had signed a binding contract for The Sterling Family Trust to sell the basketball team to Ballmer in what would be a record deal if approved by the NBA.

Ballmer "will be a terrific owner," Sterling said. "We have worked for 33 years to build the Clippers into a premier NBA franchise. I am confident that Steve will take the team to new levels of success."

Sterling negotiated the sale after her husband, Donald Sterling, made racist remarks that were made public. The remarks included Sterling telling girlfriend V. Stiviano not to bring black people to Clippers games, specifically mentioning Hall of Famer Magic Johnson.

Sterling was banned for life for his comments, which had been leaked last month to celebrity news site TMZ.com.

Ballmer outbid two groups to buy the Clippers, a source with knowledge of the sale told Reuters on Thursday. One of the groups, led by media mogul David Geffen, offered $1.6 billion. Another group of Los Angeles-based investors bid $1.2 billion. An official representing Ballmer had no immediate comment.

The $2 billion sale of a North American sports team would be the second largest ever after the sale of the LA Dodgers by former owner Frank McCourt to Guggenheim Baseball Management LLC for $2.1 billion.

Ballmer said in a recent interview, according to the Los Angeles Times, that he would not move the team, even though he had previously tried to buy the Sacramento Kings in order to move them to Seattle.

Paying such a high price for the team, he said, only made sense in Los Angeles, which is the second biggest media market in the country.

Al Jazeera and wire services