RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia’s recent issues in the business world could bring major NBA consequences to the 46-year-old.
Ishbia purchased the Suns from controversial former owner Robert Sarver for $4 billion in 2023, promising to lead the franchise to a championship.
While Ishbia’s ambitious ownership has led to major roster upheaval, struggles on the business side might bring him uncomfortably close to potentially selling his franchise like Mark Walter had to sell his.
Mat Ishbia’s company might face a margin call that could impact the Suns
Sports business reporter Joe Pompliano reported that Ishbia’s United Wholesale Mortgage company could face a margin call from JPMorgan after Ishbia used roughly 805 million shares of UWM stock to secure his purchase of the Suns in 2023.
“In simple terms, that means Ishbia put up roughly $4.6 billion of UWM stock as collateral with JPMorgan, but those shares are now worth just $1.15 billion… The logic is that UWM’s stock has dropped so low that Ishbia has no choice but to repay the JPMorgan loans with cash. And to access that much liquidity in such a short period of time, Ishbia might have to sell equity stakes in his sports teams.”
With UWM shares collapsing by 70% since he pledged the shares, the bank will likely pursue repayment in full through cash from Ishbia.
It’s unclear how much direct cash Ishbia could have access to right now, with reports indicating he might have already taken home about $6 billion in cash personally from his business.
Image via The Carlos Watson Show | YouTube
Ishbia might be forced to repay roughly $2.3 billion in remaining loans to the bank, which could force a stake sell-off in the Suns or other ways of raising cash.
Is Mat Ishbia selling the Suns a likely outcome?
The difference between Ishbia and Walter is that Ishbia’s potential debts are a fraction of the size of Walter’s, and that one bank might be after Ishbia while Walter is under federal investigation as well.
Until very recently, Ishbia was trying to find ways to become the sole owner of the Suns. He currently owns 87% and has aggressively pursued purchasing the remaining 13% from Scott Seldin and Andy Kohlberg.
That does not seem like a man who will be willing to sell his sports franchise, especially with basketball being a huge personal passion of Ishbia, who was a D1 NCAA player for Michigan State as well.
Ishbia would have an easier time coming up with the cash if the banks actually initiated a margin call than Walter could have.
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