When you’re rich and need to make a big decision, you do a four-day darkness retreat.
When you’re filthy reach and need to make a big decision, you hire someone else to make the decision for you.
The Washington Post reports that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has hired for investment firm of Allen & Company to evaluate a potential bid for the Washington Commanders.
The firm handled the sale of the Panthers to David Tepper and the Broncos to the Walton-Penner group. Both owners are currently the richest in the league.
Bezos would eclipse both of them, by far. He’s worth nearly $120 billion.
Owner Daniel Snyder reportedly would prefer not to sell to Bezos, given his ownership of the Post -- and Snyder’s possible belief that the Post instigated negative coverage of Snyder, potentially to allow Bezos to buy the team. Some have wondered whether Bezos would sell the Post as a goodwill gesture to Snyder.
Snyder’s investment banking partner, Bank of America, get paid based on the final sale price; it won’t care about petty rivalries or hard feelings if Bezos make the highest bid.
Snyder reportedly wants $7 billion for the team. Preliminary expressions of interest made in December 2022 resulted in nothing higher than $6.3 billion.
Hovering over the question of whether Snyder sells the team is the question of whether his partners will eventually force him to sell. The Mary Jo White investigation of Snyder’s alleged workplace misconduct and other matters has essentially gone into hibernation pending the possible sale.
The league, which ultimately controls everything about the investigation regardless of its insistence on calling the thing “independent,” could revive the probe at any time. And the findings could generate sufficient ammunition to force Snyder to sell -- if he doesn’t do it on his own.