Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is now worth $100 billion.

The former Microsoft CEO can claim the title of world’s richest sports team owner due to a surge in tech stock prices that’s lifted many wealthy individuals to even greater heights.

Ballmer passes Mukesh Ambani, owner of cricket’s Mumbai Indians, who ranked first with a net worth of $84.5 billion as recently as April.

With $20 billion in asset growth just this year, Ballmer is one of nine people in the $100 billion club.

• Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the world’s richest person at $214 billion. Bezos has been rumored to be interested in purchasing an NFL team.
• The 10 richest people, eight of whom are former or current tech executives, have collectively made $245 billion since the start of 2021. 

Ballmer may have his ownership of the Clippers to partially thank for reaching this latest milestone. A ProPublica investigation found that Ballmer’s 2018 tax rate of 12% was lower than the 14.1% rate paid by a concessions worker at the Staples Center where the Clippers pay.

Ballmer can deduct the $2 billion he paid for the team in 2014 from his taxable earnings over multiple years.

NFL, NBA, and MLB team values have grown over fivefold since 2000 — hitting respective averages of $2.6 billion, $1.9 billion, and $1.7 billion in 2019.

When Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier face off for the third time at UFC 264 on Saturday, reputations will be on the line — but the fight will be a financial win for everyone involved.

McGregor won the first bout in 2014, and Poirier defeated McGregor with a second-round TKO in January. McGregor made $5 million from the January duel, while Poirier took home a career-best $1 million.

Saturday’s fight will be the biggest event for UFC since Endeavor agreed to acquire 100% of the business in March, saying it will raise “at least $1.75 billion” to purchase the 49.9% of the company it doesn’t already own.

• McGregor is estimated to make $3 million in guaranteed money this time around, plus 60% of the pay-per-view revenue share, for a total of about $10 million.
• Poirier’s estimate is $1 million guaranteed, with another $2 million coming from his cut of pay-per-view sales.

McGregor was the top earner among all athletes in the year ending May 1 due to the sale of his whiskey business, Proper No. 5. He made $180 million in that timespan, $158 million of it from the sale and other outside-the-ring activities.

Poirier-McGregor III will pilot a unique partnership between UFC and AMC, which will show the fight at select theaters for $25 — a major discount from the $70 pay-per-view cost.

Don’t expect Shaquille O’Neal to dip into the crypto market any time soon.

In an interview with Front Office Sports, the NBA Hall of Famer, business mogul, and TNT basketball analyst shared his take on cryptocurrency, saying he only invests in things he strongly believes in and avoids ventures that “seem too good to be true.”

“I always get these companies that say, ‘Hey, we’ll give you $900,000 in crypto to send out a tweet.’ So I have to say, ’OK, if you’re going to give me a million dollars worth of crypto, then why do you need me?’” O’Neal said. “A couple of my friends got caught up in a little scam like that one time.”

The 49-year-old has an estimated net worth of $400 million and an extensive portfolio of investments. 

• This year, O’Neal co-founded a diversity-focused ad agency, Majority. 
• Beachbody, a subscription-based fitness platform, went public via a $2.9 billion merger with connected cycling provider Myx and a Shaq-advised SPAC in June.
• In May, O’Neal became an equity partner in Alkaline Water Co. He’ll join the board of advisors and get about 7 million shares, or 5-6%, of the company. 
• He’s a minority owner of the Sacramento Kings, too.

O’Neal most recently invested in NRG Esports and brokered a naming rights partnership between their “Rocket League” team and The General insurance company, one of his many endorsements.

Ubisoft is developing a game plan to rival the success of “Fortnite” and “Grand Theft Auto.” 

The video game company is working on a massive online platform based on its “Assassin’s Creed” franchise, according to Bloomberg. 

The live service will connect every installment of the storied franchise, which includes 12 games. “Assassin’s Creed” titles have sold more than 155 million copies since their debut in 2007.

After a record year, total yearly revenue from the series is up 50% over the prior record set in 2013.

“Assassin’s Creed” also helped Ubisoft reach 141 million unique players across consoles and PCs in FY2021, a 20% bump from the same period a year earlier. 

The hope is that a live service model will give “Assassin’s Creed” titles an even longer shelf life, comparable to a couple extremely profitable games with a similar ecosystem. 

• Rockstar’s “Grand Theft Auto V” had its best sales year in 2020, moving 20 million units seven years after the game was initially released.
• Epic Games brought in $5.1 billion in revenue from “Fortnite” in 2020, up 37% year-over-year. 

Ubisoft is already on the right track. The company generated $2.63 billion in revenue in FY2021, a 39.4% increase from FY2020.