Brooklyn Nets selling minority share to widow of David Koch

The latest billionaire to enter the NBA happens to be one of the wealthiest women in the world.

According to reports from Sportico, Bloomberg and other outlets, Julia Koch is set to buy a 10% stake in the Brooklyn Nets' parent company BSE Global. Koch is the widow of David Koch, the billionaire who died in 2019.

Sportico's Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams reported that Koch Industries, the company that spawned the family fortune, is not involved in the purchase. They also reported that Joe and Claire Tsai will maintain control of the team, a deal similar to that of Mark Cuban, who sold the Dallas Mavericks in November. Bloomberg's scribes went further to say that only Julia and her children are involved in the deal.

For the Nets and Liberty, the shift in ownership ranks is nothing new in recent years. The Nets themselves have changed majority ownership twice since setting out to move to Brooklyn in the late 2000s — Bruce Ratner sold his stake to Mikhail Prokhorov, who managed an eventual handover of the team with Joe Tsai. Tsai bought the Liberty from New York Knicks owner James Dolan in January 2019 and took full ownership of the Nets in September of the same year.

Tsai is the latest NBA owner to offer at least a partial stake in his team in the last year, but it's not clear if he's entertaining selling a majority share to the Koch family or anyone else. The Minnesota Timberwolves are in the process of transferring control to Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore after Glen Taylor brought them along for smaller shares. Cuban sold the majority of the Mavericks to Miriam Adelson, the widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, in November.  Michael Jordan sold the majority share of the Charlotte Hornets in June 2023 to Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin. In April 2023, Marc Lasry sold his majority piece of the Milwaukee Bucks to Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam.

Despite the family wealth being built through oil, paper and materials, Charles and David Koch, the scions of their late father's company, were better known for their influence in American politics, especially in support of libertarian causes that aid in the wider conservative world. Considering some of the more progressive stances that the Nets, Liberty and their leagues have supported over the years, there may be quite a few questions regarding the addition of the Kochs.