Billionaire Steve Ballmer Claims He Was ‘Duped’ By Aspiration—The Company That Paid Kawhi Leonard $28 Million

Topline

Billionaire and Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer on Thursday shared a note to a judge in which he claimed he is a “clear and undisputed victim” of fraud in a criminal case tied to the failed fintech firm Aspiration as questions persist about his role with company and what he knew about a $28 million endorsement deal for Clippers player Kawhi Leonard that may have skirted NBA salary-cap rules.

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, left, looks on at players Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, right, during a press conference in 2019.

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Key Facts

Ballmer, one of the richest men in the world, on Thursday shared a victim impact statement he gave a judge in the fraud case of Aspiration co-founder Joe Sanberg, claiming in the post that he “was duped and feel(s) silly about that.”

The statement, given ahead of a sentencing hearing scheduled for Sanberg Monday, paints Ballmer as an investor who lost not only his $60 million investment in Aspiration but whose reputation has suffered “immeasurable” harm in the company’s demise.

Aspiration, which started as an environmentally friendly digital bank before shifting to carbon-offset programs, was a major sponsor of Ballmer’s Los Angeles Clippers before the company started to unravel and Sanberg was arrested on allegations he conspired to defraud lenders.

What Does Pablo Torre Allege About Aspiration And Kawhi Leonard?

Torre says Aspiration signed a “no show” deal with Leonard to circumvent the NBA’s $154.6 million salary cap. In a series of allegations on his podcast, Torre says the $28 million endorsement deal allegedly required little or no work on Leonard’s part and that payments were all but guaranteed to continue as long as he remained on the Clippers, effectively acting as additional salary money beyond what the team was allowed to pay him under NBA rules. Torre went on to allege donations to Aspiration by Ballmer continued after the government started investigating the company for fraud, and that the timing of those investments coincided with dates in which Leonard was due to be paid by Aspiration. Both the team and Ballmer have denied the allegations and in his letter to the judge, Ballmer accused Torre of launching a “relentless vitriolic public campaign” against him based on “gossip,” which Torre has denied. The NBA launched an investigation into the situation in September but has yet to release the results or announce any punishment for Ballmer, Leonard or the Clippers, which could fined up to $4.5 million and docked a first-round draft pick if the team is found to have tried to circumvent the salary cap.

What To Watch For

Sanberg, who pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud in federal court, is scheduled to be sentenced Monday.

Forbes Valuation

Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft, is the 15th richest person in the world as of Thursday with an estimated net worth of $132 billion. He owned 4% of Microsoft stock when he retired in 2014, most of which he has held onto, and has said he’s the company’s largest individual shareholder. He bought the Los Angeles Clippers 12 years ago for $2 billion and the team is now valued at $7.5 billion.

Key Background

As an eco-friendly bank, Aspiration once had as many as 300,000 downloads of its app in a single month and enjoyed an array of high-profile investors including Ballmer (who invested $60 million), Robert Downey Jr., Leonardo DiCaprio and Drake. In mid-2021, the company was set to go public in a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal that valued it at $2.3 billion and Aspiration was aggressively pursuing the naming rights to a new Clippers arena. The company lost the bid for the stadium name, but signed a $300 million sponsorship agreement to become a founding partner of the team and the long-term jersey patch sponsor. In 2022, however, Aspiration’s SPAC deal was canceled when the stock market tanked, growth stalled and a rift developed between Sanberg and co-founder Andrei Cherny, who abruptly left the company in late 2022. Aspiration then shifted its focus to selling carbon credits to other businesses, which the Clippers and Ballmer bought into. Less than two years later, Sandberg was arrested and former Aspiration board member Ibrahim Ameen Alhusseini had pleaded guilty to wire fraud.