A California court has ruled that the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers last year was legal, quashing former owner Donald Sterling’s attempt to reverse the deal triggered by controversy over his racist remarks.
A three-justice panel of California’s Court of Appeal ruled that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas had not erred in approving the $2 billion sale of the team to former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer.
The sale came following a threat by the NBA to take control of the franchise after Sterling was banned for life for making racist comments which were secretly recorded by a former girlfriend.
Shelly Sterling, the 81-year-old tycoon’s estranged wife, took control of the family trust and oversaw the sale following the controversy.
Donald Sterling had attempted to argue the deal was invalid as he had already revoked the trust before the sale in July 2014.
But in an 18-page ruling, Justice Madeleine Flier said Sterling’s claim was of no importance.
“Assuming Donald effectively revoked the trust on June 9, 2014, Donald fails to demonstrate such revocation precluded the probate court from authorizing the trustee to sell the Clippers in accordance with the terms of an agreement established prior to Donald’s revocation,” Flier wrote.
Flier said Sterling’s wife, Shelly Sterling, had acted in the best interests of the trust’s beneficiaries when she sold the team for an amount higher than she and her advisers thought possible.
“The amount caused Donald to congratulate (Shelly,)” Flier noted. The $2 billion price tag was around $400 million more than the sale had been expected to raise.
Donald Sterling filed for divorce from Shelly Sterling in August.