Bishop of the Devil

After the draft, Nelson looked excited.

Tonight's draft, Golden Dragon, as the boss, naturally did not come. Generally speaking, bosses rarely appear in drafts, except for weirdos like Richard or Cuban...

Nelson gained three newcomers tonight. According to Richard, these three are all All-Star or quasi-All-Star players.

With so many high-quality rookies harvested in one draft, it's no wonder that Nelson is unhappy.

Now Nelson really understands how strong the team led by Richard can be. With such a strong selection ability, it is difficult to think about whether it is strong or not.

If nothing else, their Warriors will begin their initial rise in the next two years.

…

After returning to Los Angeles from New York, Richard received a call from Stern.

The content of the phone call is very simple, that is, let Richard go to the New York headquarters in a week, and then bid for the Los Angeles Clippers together with other competitors. The league management committee will choose the highest bidder and let him own the ownership of the Clippers.

The general nature is like a bidding fair, where competitors bid, and the one with the highest price wins.

Stern didn't elaborate on the specific rules, so Richard doesn't know much about them yet.

However, he has sufficient confidence in his financial resources. As long as the investment does not exceed US$2 billion, he will never back down.

It is expected that it is unlikely to exceed 2 billion US dollars, unless these competitors are fighting to sell the iron.

…

A week later, Richard showed up at the New York headquarters with Sun Xiaoben.

Perhaps there were not many competitors, so Stern directly called everyone to his office.

Stern's office is undoubtedly quite spacious. There are about ten people sitting in it at the moment, but it doesn't feel crowded at all.

Although there are more than ten people, there are actually only three real competitors for Richard.

In other words, including Richard, there are only four competitors competing for the Clippers this time.

Richard's side.

Magic Johnson and the consortium behind him.

Diddy and the syndicate behind him.

The last competitor was a bit beyond Richard's expectation. He didn't expect that he would also come.

Larry Exon, nicknamed the Playboy of Silicon Valley.

This is a real libertine, and Sterling is nothing compared to him...

Sterling is just a sneaky old guy, while Exxon likes to have dozens of boats, has an arrogant personality, and likes to enjoy and squander.

As the founder of Oracle, the world's second largest software company, Exxon is naturally qualified to enjoy and squander.

Richard remembered that under normal circumstances, when Ballmer acquired the Clippers, the main competitor was Exxon...

Maybe this is why Ballmer made $2 billion in the first place.

Microsoft is undoubtedly the world's largest software company. In the competition with the second largest company Oracle, Ballmer, as the president of Microsoft, probably did not want to admit defeat, so he raised the price to that point.

…

"Okay, now that we're all here, let's get started." Stern announced. In the next short period of time, he will help the Clippers choose a new owner.

Everyone nodded and waited for Stern's further instructions.

"Let's start with Mr. Kemus. Tell us your intended quotation. Of course, this is not the final quotation. After listening to other quotations, you can also increase the price again if you think it is okay." Stern smiled. said.

Richard nodded, knowing clearly that this time it was less like a bidding meeting and more like an auction.

The Mr. Combus that Stern is talking about is actually Diddy, whose real name is Sean Combus.

Now Stern is letting Diddy make the first offer, which also shows Stern's attitude. He doesn't really want Comus to get involved with the Clippers.

Diddy has invested in quite a few industries, but his net worth is actually the least among all the people present. His total net worth is currently only about 400 million US dollars...

When Stern implemented the dress code before, he just didn't want the league to be equated with hip-hop street culture. Now he naturally doesn't want Diddy to get involved with the Clippers.

"Eight hundred million dollars." Diddy said with a frown.

This is of course not his final offer, but it is not far from his final offer. The current limit that he and the consortium behind him can afford is one billion US dollars.

Richard and Exxon showed subtle smiles. How dare they speak with 800 million US dollars?

"Mr. Johnson, please tell me your offer." Stern looked at the magician again.

Stern knew very well that Magician and Diddy were just making up the numbers. In the end, the auction would still depend on Richard and Exxon.

Magic didn't expect Stern to make him a second offer. In his opinion, he is an NBA star, so Stern should take care of him, right?

"$900 million." Magic Johnson increased Diddy's offer by $100 million.

Although Stern showed no expression on his face, he firmly believed in his heart that the magician and Diddy were really just here to make up the numbers...

Are you too petty to want to acquire the Clippers for less than one billion US dollars?

"Mr. Exxon, can you tell me your quotation?" Stern looked at Larry Exxon again.

He actually doesn't understand why Exxon is interested in the NBA team. This playboy has never heard that he has any interest in the sports industry. He should be more interested in some entertainment industries. After all, the entertainment industry There are so many beauties in there...

"Could this guy want to use the Clippers as a springboard to get to know more beauties in Los Angeles?" Stern thought silently in his heart.

In the United States as a whole, or simply in the whole world, if you want to say which city has the most beautiful women, it is undoubtedly Los Angeles.

Los Angeles is the largest entertainment city in the world. Countless dream-chasing girls from all over the world gather in Los Angeles. A brick falling from the sky may kill several female models...

This is why some players have to rush to Los Angeles even if they suffer some salary losses.

Exxon now wants to acquire the Clippers. Stern doesn't believe it at all if he has no idea in this regard.

"$1.3 billion," Exxon said with a smile.

He directly increased the price by 400 million US dollars based on Magic's offer, and it seems that he is bound to win the Clippers.

The magician and Diddy looked stunned. Is this 1.3 billion US dollars? It seems that the two of them came to New York today to serve as foils.

Because their maximum quotation is less than 1.3 billion US dollars, how can they compete with Exxon.

Richard was also entangled in his heart. Exxon had disrupted his plan.

Richard originally estimated that US$1.3 billion would be enough to acquire the Clippers, but he didn't expect Exxon to be so bold and offer US$1.3 billion.

Stern looked at Richard and said, "Lee, it's time for you to make an offer."

Richard pondered for a moment, and finally said: "1.5 billion!"

Richard was even more ruthless and directly raised the price to another level, reaching the level of 1.5 billion US dollars!

The reason why Richard directly increased the quotation by 200 million US dollars instead of adding tens of millions to Exxon's quotation was because Richard naturally had his own considerations.

Exxon's temperament is quite arrogant. If his price increase is too small, Exxon may feel that he is being teased.

If Exxon's anger is aroused, it will definitely not be a good thing for Richard.

This is not an auction scene in a fantasy novel. The protagonist can increase the price of a spiritual stone, and finally raises it to a sky-high price and cheats the villain...

If Richard does this, Exxon will probably start a fight with Richard, and it’s hard to say how much the price will rise in the end.

Exxon has such financial resources to compete with Richard. As the owner of the world's second largest software company, Exxon's financial resources are undoubtedly strong.

If Richard is not destined to win the Clippers, then it doesn’t matter. Exxon asked for 1.3 billion, and he asked for 1.31 million. He will continue to play with Exxon slowly, even if he really angers Exxon. , that’s not a big deal, Richard just quits the competition like those shrewd protagonists in fantasy novels...

But it definitely wouldn't work now. Richard directly showed his strong determination to everyone present.

1.5 billion US dollars is already more than twice the premium of the Clippers' market value. Stern looked at Richard strangely. It's no wonder that this kid can reach this point. If nothing else, at least his courage is extremely outstanding. .

The magician and Diddy on the side blinked and looked at Richard speechlessly.

Richard's offer basically eliminated their hope of getting the Clippers.

1.5 billion? Are you kidding me, are the Clippers really worth so much money? Richard is not afraid of buying it and losing it in his own hands?

From this moment on, they were completely desperate, knowing that the Clippers had no chance with them.

They gritted their teeth and sold off some of the US$1.3 billion from Exxon just now, and if the consortium behind them increased their support, they could actually get it out.

But if the price reaches 1.3 billion US dollars, they will not dare to take action at all. The risk is too great.

But now that the price has soared to 1.5 billion US dollars, they have naturally given up hope completely.

Exxon looked at Richard curiously, 1.5 billion US dollars? This was completely beyond his expectation.

1.3 billion US dollars is the limit of his quotation. The reason why he quoted this price is because the playboy has an appointment with a girl in New York and does not want to waste time here...

So I offered my maximum price when I came up. If it worked, I would win the Clippers. If it didn't work, I wouldn't waste time.

Now that Richard has quoted US$1.5 billion, he has completely lost interest in continuing to quote.

How else can I repay it? 1.6 billion? Only a fool would spend $1.6 billion to buy the Clippers...

At least Exxon doesn't want to be such a fool.

If Richard knew that Exxon's maximum quotation was 1.3 billion, he would probably vomit blood. This would be equivalent to spending more than 100 million US dollars in vain...

But even if he knew, he probably wouldn't care. He can completely accept the Clippers for $1.5 billion.

The room fell into silence for a while after Richard reported the price of 1.5 billion US dollars.

"The first round of quotations is over, let's start the second round..." Stern said with a smile.

"Richard's quotation is currently the highest. Is there anyone with a higher quotation than him?"

There was silence in the room for five seconds, and finally Ackerson cleared his throat.

"Congratulations, Lee!"

"The Clippers are yours. If you have the chance, let's take some time to chat. I think we should have many opportunities for cooperation."

"I'm leaving first, there's a girl waiting for me." After saying that, Ackerson stood up and left Stern's office directly.

Magician and Diddy were a little embarrassed, but Exxon actually passed them by and started congratulating Richard directly!

Is he so sure that the two of them cannot come up with 1.5 billion US dollars? !

Well, it’s true that I can’t take it out…

"Congratulations, Lee." Diddy smiled and congratulated Richard. Although he really hoped to win the Clippers, his current financial resources were not as good as others, so he had no choice.

"Congratulations, Lee, if the new Clippers need management, I think I would be happy to go to the Clippers to serve." Magic Johnson said in a half-joking tone.

Not to mention, after Richard quoted a price tag of US$1.5 billion, Magic immediately wanted to join the Clippers.

Of course not playing for Richard, but joining the Clippers as the team president...

The relationship between the two teams, the Lakers and Clippers, is not very good, but they cannot be called mortal enemies in the same city. Many famous Lakers have served as managers in the Clippers.

The most famous one is Elgin Baylor, who served as the Clippers' president of basketball affairs when Richard first entered the league.

And later generations of LOGO men also joined the Clippers...

Now it's quite normal for Magic Johnson to want to come to the Clippers.

It's just that Richard will definitely not agree to the Magic. Are you kidding? This guy's ability on the court is completely unspeakable, but his ability to operate the team is simply scum.

I'm afraid that more than 200 Magic Johnsons can't compare to one LOGO man. It's weird that Richard allows Magic to come to his team. That's just because he's full and looking for trouble.

Besides, Richard doesn't think his team needs a president of basketball affairs. Is there anyone else who is more suitable for this position than himself?