Report: Billionaire Mat Ishbia finalizing purchase of Suns

It looks like billionaire mortgage lender Mat Ishbia has won the bid to purchase the NBA’s Phoenix Suns from embattled owner Robert Sarver.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that the deal is expected to be completed in the near future with Ishbia taking over as one of the newest owners in professional sports.

There’s certainly a lot of moving parts to this. Ishbia is currently the CEO and chairman of United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM). The company was founded by his father back in 1986. He currently has a 71% stake in the company, which went public back in 2021.

According to Forbes, Ishbia is said to be worth a cool $5.1 billion. It was noted in November that UWM Holdings had a net income of $325.6 million for the third quarter of the 2022 fiscal year. Obviously, Mat Ishbia has the financial backing to make a deal of this ilk.

As for the Suns, it was reported a short while after Robert Sarver announced his intention to sell the NBA team that said deal would likely break an Association record.

Here’s a look at current team values around the NBA.

• New York Knicks: $5.8 billion
• Golden State Warriors: $5.6 billion
• Los Angeles Lakers: $5.5 billion
• Chicago Bulls: $3.65 billion
• Boston Celtics: $3.55 billion

While the Phoenix Suns are unlikely to go for that anywhere near these amounts, their sale promises to surpass the league-record $2.35 billion Joe Tsai paid for the Brooklyn Nets back in 2019.

We’ll have further updates on this blockbuster NBA story as soon as more details become available.