The former CEO of Microsoft has agreed to buy the LA Clippers for a whopping 2$ Billion, a price that some news sources are saying is the most ever paid for an NBA franchise to date.


A person close to the deal, who asked to remain anonymous told USAToday, Shelly Sterling had a signed contract with Ballmer that was sent to the NBA for approval. At least three-quarters of the league's owners must approve the sale.

The person said Donald Sterling does not have to sign off on the agreement because he has been determined to be mentally unfit to make decisions about the family trust, which owns the team with each spouse having a 50% share. The trust spells out provisions and procedures related to the trustees' mental capacity, and an expert determination was made about Donald Sterling that left Shelly Sterling in charge of the trust, the person said.

Ballmer, who was chief executive of Microsoft for 14 years, beat out other bidders that included Los Angeles-based investors Tony Ressler and Steve Karsh and a group that included David Geffen, Oprah Winfrey, Larry Ellison and executives from the Guggenheim Group, the Chicago-based owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.