a primer for robert pera

50 things you need to know to be the owner of the Grizzlies in Memphis

Grizzlies announcement

NBA BOARD OF GOVERNORS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES SALE OF MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES TO ROBERT PERA

NEW YORK, Oct. 25, 2012 — The NBA Board of Governors has unanimously approved the sale of the Memphis Grizzlies to an investor group led by Robert Pera.

“We are delighted that the NBA’s Board of Governors has approved Robert Pera’s purchase of the Grizzlies,” said NBA Commissioner David Stern. “Robert will no doubt bring great energy and passion to the franchise. He has assembled an ownership group with very strong local ties, and we anticipate that their commitment to the Memphis area will greatly benefit both the team and the community.”

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good news involving justin timberlake and the memphis grizzlies

you remember that rich guy that wants to buy the team? well he is gathering a group of memphis natives to form a minority ownership group, sort of as a show of good faith that he is committed to keeping the grizz in memphis longterm. justin timberlake is going to buy in as a part of the local ownership group, so eat your heart out jay z. the nets suck but the grizz are great! news news

who is Robert Pera?

The question on the minds of Grizzlies fans tonight, just who is this young self made billionaire who just bought our beloved team?

Well, let's start with the obvious: he is 34 years old, rich, and moderately attractive (the rich part makes him more so). He is the founder/ CEO of Ubiquiti Networks, a wireless technology company. He has a blog that looks like it is just starting out, and there is an unused twitter handle that may or may not actually be him. I read somewhere that he loves basketball, and plays 5 times a week. He was a hardware engineer at apple, and quit when he was 25 to start his own company, see how that turned out.

He was born in St. Louis, but grew up in the Bay Area, and splits time between Taiwan and Silicon Valley. Two quotes that give me hope for his chances of improving an already vastly improved team:

“I quit my job because I wanted to have more success faster”

 “I am excited about the opportunity to build on the work that has made the Memphis Grizzlies a highly competitive NBA team,” Pera said. “I look forward to getting to know the Memphis community and to continuing the team’s success in Memphis.”