NBA: Nike co-founder Phil Night's desperate to buy the Portland Trailblazers from Jody Allen
Daily Mail Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike, has repeatedly tried to get in touch with the late Paul Allen's sister, Jody, with the aim of buying the Portland Trail Blazers, but the NBA franchise owner's insisted that the team is not for sale, time and time again.
Knight and part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Alan Smolinisky, who built his wealth by building student housing around the University of Southern California, submitted an offer of more than $2billion to purchase the team in June, 2022.
That bid, however, was rejected without so much as a counteroffer, according to The Wall Street Journal. Jody Allen inherited her brother's $20B wealth after the death of Microsoft's co-founder from septic shock related to cancer in October 2018, at the age of 65.
He and his sister founded Vulcan Inc. in 1986, a privately held company that's still managing his business and philanthropic efforts, today. It holds a multi-billion dollar investment portfolio that includes the likes of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, the Seattle Sounders, of the MLS, and of course, the Trail Blazers.
