Sorry, Diddy and Stephen Curry: It appears the Carolina Panthers are off the market.
Pittsburgh Steelers minority owner and hedge fund manager David Tepper is expected to sign a deal Tuesday to buy the Panthers from owner Jerry Richardson, ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Seth Wickersham reported Tuesday, citing a league source.
The sale is expected to be valued at $2.2 billion in cash, according to the Charlotte Observer, which would be a new record for an NFL franchise.
The deal, which would keep the team in Carolina, would need approval from 24 of the NFL’s 32 owners, and is expected to receive those votes at the NFL Spring League Meeting in Atlanta on May 22, per Schefter and Wickersham.
Richardson announced he was selling the Panthers in December after damning allegations surfaced about his workplace misconduct and sexual harassment of employees. Shortly following Richardson’s announcement, rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs tweeted his interest in buying the franchise, with Curry, the Golden State Warriors star and a Charlotte, N.C., native, adding he wanted in.
Tepper has a bit more capital to work with, though; the Pittsburgh native is the founder of the global hedge fund Appaloosa Management and has a net worth of $11 billion, per Forbes.
