CHINESE-AMERICAN tech billionaire Lin Bin purchased a small stake in the Miami Dolphins at a valuation of $12.5 billion, a record for a publicly known minority transaction, Sportico reported on Tuesday.
Bin is acquiring a 1% stake in the holding company that owns the Dolphins, Hard Rock Stadium, Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix and part of the Miami Open tennis tournament.
The previous top valuation for a minority transaction was $10 billion, set in October when the Koch family bought 10% of the New York Giants.
The NFL’s finance committee approved Bin’s purchase. Approval from league owners is expected to follow at their annual meeting in late March.
Bin, a consumer electronics magnate, is the co-founder and vice-chairman of Xiaomi, a leading smartphone vendor headquartered in Beijing.
With an estimated net worth of $10.3 billion, Bin ranked No. 305 on Tuesday in Forbes’ real-time ranking of the wealthiest people in the world. He worked in engineering at Google and Microsoft after obtaining a master’s degree in computer science from Drexel. — Reuters
