Qatar Investment Authority, Venture Capitalist Part Of $3 Billion Bid For Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns is currently on a four-game losing streak after having another hot start to the season, and while many are worrying about the future of the team, the longtime NBA franchise may have new owners coming in very soon.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the nation of Qatar is making a $3 billion bid through the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Thiel Capital owner Peter Thiel.

According to WSJ, Jack Selby and Jason Pressman, managing directors of Thiel Capital and Shasta Ventures respectively, submitted the bid to purchase the Suns and the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA.

"Other potential financiers in the deal include Mr. Thiel and private-equity and sovereign-wealth funds, such as the Qatar Investment Authority, the people said. The NBA recently said it would accept investment from pension and sovereign-wealth funds," the report read.

In other words, venture capitalist Thiel and the QIA will become minority investors - at least for now.

As most sports fans know, the QIA owns French Ligue 1 soccer team Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), via the Qatar Sports Investment (QSI), after buying 70% of the team in June 2011 before completely owning the team a couple of months later in March 2012 to become the sole shareholder.

Because of their investors, PSG can afford to offer a ton of money for the best soccer stars in the world and is reported to have spent €1.41 billion ($1.48 billion) as of March 2022 on transfers since acquiring the team.

If the deal were to go through, the Suns could find themselves in the same situation and become buyers instead of sellers in the offseason–potentially putting them in the same league as big-money teams like the Golden State Warriors, Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers.

The Suns need a lot of help financially in order to better round out the team due to the current set of injuries that they are dealing with, particularly to forward Cameron Johnson.

It would be a welcome development for Suns fans everywhere after current owner Robert Sarver announced in September that he would be selling both the Suns and Mercury as he was being investigated by the NBA for workplace misconduct.

Sarver was eventually suspended for one year and given a $10 million fine, with his decision to sell the team being supported by NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

The second round of bidding is set to take place in January and the beloved NBA franchise could have new owners just in time for the 2023 offseason with big names like Khris Middleton, Fred VanVleet, Jerami Grant and Kyle Kuzma becoming free agents.