The Carolina Panthers are being sold for an NFL-record $2.2 billion.
Hedge fund manager David Tepper has agreed to buy the Panthers from team founder Jerry Richardson, people familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team has not yet announced the sale.
The purchase is subject to a vote at the NFL owners meeting next week in Atlanta.
The price tag is the most ever paid for an NFL franchise, eclipsing the $1.4 billion the Pegula family paid to purchase the Buffalo Bills in 2014.
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Tepper, 60, is a part owner of the Steelers and founder and president of Appaloosa Management, a global hedge fund based in Miami.
Because he holds a five percent stake in the Steelers, Tepper’s finances have already been vetted by the league, meaning it wouldn’t take much for NFL owners to approve the sale. However, Tepper would have to sell his minority ownership stake of the Steelers, per league rules.
Forbes listed Tepper’s net worth at $11.4 billion in February of 2017.
He donated $55 million to Carnegie Mellon University’s business school in 2013.
Richardson was the first and only majority of the Panthers. He became only the first former player since George Halas to become an NFL owner when he was awarded an expansion franchise in 1993. Richardson promised fans at the time the Panthers would win a Super Bowl “within 10 years.” Carolina has reached the Super Bowl twice, including in 2015, but has never won.
Richardson announced in December he was selling the team amid an NFL investigation into sexual and racial misconduct in the workplace. That decision came after an explosive report by Sports Illustrated detailing Richardson’s alleged misconduct.
The league’s investigation into the allegations is still ongoing.
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