After nearly a full week of reports indicating that Rams minority owner Stan Kroenke has every intention of purchasing the portion of the franchise that he doesn’t currently own, a new report suggests that Kroenke simply may be trying to make a little (or a lot of) extra money in order to let Shahid Khan purchase the available 60-percent stake unfettered.
According to Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal, Kroenke had asked Khan for a “mid- to high-eight-figure fee” in exchange for Kroenke not exercising his right of first refusal. Kaplan speculates that Kroenke, whose bluff to date has been called by Khan, could be buying time in the hopes that Khan -- or someone else -- eventually will pay.
Said a spokesman for Khan, “Shad and Stan met on three occasions, and the discussions they had were cordial and constructive, but above all they were confidential.”
Basically, Kroenke knows that doing nothing has value, and he wanted to be compensated for giving Khan a clear path to majority ownership. And while some may wonder why a multi-billionaire like Kroenke would squeeze his future partner in the Rams for a “money for nothing” payment of up to $100 million, the reality is that guys who get really rich without inheriting it or winning the lottery can’t -- and won’t -- turn off the drive that caused them to get rich in the first place. At a certain point, it’s no longer about the money; it’s about the thrill of the pursuit of more of it.