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Steve Jobs' Widow, Laurene, Reportedly Purchased 20% Stake in Wizards, Capitals

Joseph Zucker@@JosephZuckerX.com LogoFeatured ColumnistOctober 3, 2017

FILE - In this Aug. 2, 2016, file photo, Laurene Powell Jobs arrives for a State Dinner at the White House in Washington. Billionaire executive Laurene Powell Jobs has agreed to buy a 20 percent stake in Ted Leonsis’ Monumental Sports & Entertainment. A spokeswoman for Monumental confirmed to The Associated Press that there is an agreement in place with Powell Jobs pending approval from the NBA and NHL. Monumental owns the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals. Powell Jobs, widow of former Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs, is a philanthropist and entrepreneur and is president of the Emerson Collective. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press

Laurene Powell Jobs, one of the world's richest women and the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, reportedly has purchased a 20 percent stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the company that controls the Washington Wizards, Washington Capitals, Washington Mystics and Capital One Arena.

According to the Washington Post's Thomas Heath, only Ted Leonsis has a larger individual stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and he will remain the chief executive.

"We have an agreement with Laurene Powell Jobs, founder and president of Emerson Collective, to join the Monumental Sports & Entertainment ownership group," the company told Heath. "The process is underway and is pending league approvals."

According to Forbes, Powell Jobs and her family have a net worth of $19.8 billion. She's the founder of Emerson Collective, which purchased a majority stake in Washington, D.C.-based Atlantic Media in July.

SB Nation's NetsDaily reported in January 2015 that Powell Jobs had had an interest in purchasing the Brooklyn Nets. She was also part of an ownership group that attempted to purchase the Los Angeles Clippers, which Steve Ballmer bought for a then-record $2 billion.

Leonsis founded Monumental Sports & Entertainment in June 2010 and purchased the Wizards and Capital One Arena from the Pollin family shortly thereafter.

In February, Forbes ranked the Wizards as the 18th-most valuable NBA franchise, with a value of $1 billion. Forbes valued the Capitals at $575 million, which ranked 10th among NHL teams.