Sean “Diddy” Combs and Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry are under serious consideration to be minority owners of the Carolina Panthers.
The Panthers went up for sale after misconduct allegations against owner Jerry Richardson, and it didn’t take long for Diddy and Curry to get brought up in the mix. Now it looks like this might actually happen.
ESPN reported the following:
Rapper and mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and Golden State Warriors All-Star Stephen Curry are among a strong, diverse group that e-commerce billionaire Michael Rubin is putting together as potential minority owners in his effort to purchase the Carolina Panthers, a source told ESPN.com on Tuesday.
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Neither Combs nor Curry have the money to consider being a majority owner. Forbes has Diddy valued at $820 million. Curry in 2017, according to the magazine, brought in $47.3 million in total earnings.
But both offer the robust diversity Rubin is looking for in partners and would be most likely to join his effort, although nothing has been finalized, a source said.
I actually like this move a lot, especially when it comes to Steph Curry. He grew up in North Carolina, went to Davidson in North Carolina and has been very open about his fandom of the Panthers. I have no idea what Diddy’s connection is to the team or state, but it’s very clear that Curry’s heart is there.
As ESPN pointed out, neither of these two men have the money that would be required to buy a majority stake in the team. Steph Curry likely doesn’t even have enough liquid assets to even buy a significant minority stake.
My guess is that Rubin wants Curry and Diddy more for publicity purposes. Let each of them cut in for somewhere around $50 million, get a couple points in ownership and then use them as the face of the franchise.
No matter how they get it done, if they do, I think it’s a smart play to bring them into the fold.