Clippers investigation deepens as Stever Ballmer tied to another $10M Aspiration deal

The Clippers’ ongoing saga with Kawhi Leonard and the now-bankrupt “green bank” Aspiration has yet another twist.

According to legal filings reviewed by The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer made a second investment into Aspiration — nearly $10 million in March 2023. This came at a time when the company was “hemorrhaging cash, laying off employees and struggling to raise funds,” per Vorkunov.

This investment was in addition to Ballmer’s previously reported $50 million buy-in from 2021. Multiple sources also told Vorkunov the Clippers separately invested more than $50 million for “carbon offsetting” purposes tied to the team’s goal of becoming carbon neutral.

Meanwhile, Leonard signed a four-year, $28 million endorsement deal with Aspiration in April 2022. There’s no evidence he ever performed any work. A reported separate side deal gave Leonard another $20 million in company stock, personally covered by co-founder Joe Sanberg.

In an email obtained by The Athletic, Sanberg admitted Aspiration’s CEO didn’t want the deal and that he had to contribute his own equity to make it happen. Sanberg has since pled guilty to federal wire fraud charges.

Ballmer’s $10 million follow-up investment came just months after Clippers minority owner Dennis Wong invested $2 million to help cover a missed $1.75 million quarterly payment to Leonard. That payment was made nine days later, the same day Aspiration cut 20 percent of its workforce.

The NBA is currently investigating whether Ballmer, Leonard, and the Clippers circumvented the salary cap with these deals.

Inside Aspiration, Leonard’s contract caused “confusion and frustration.” One executive told Vorkunov the deal “materialized essentially out of the ether,” noting that other celebrity endorsers like Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Downey Jr. were paid under $2 million each.

That kind of disparity — paired with Ballmer’s financial entanglements — is why this story refuses to go away.