Joe Lacob

The businesses in detail

How the main business makes money. The Warriors group sells tickets, premium seats, sponsorships and media rights. It owns Chase Center, so it also earns from concerts and other events there. Gate receipts alone were $307M in 2024-25, Forbes says. His earlier money came from venture capital: buying small stakes in young companies and sharing the profit when they are sold or listed.

Biggest deals.

• 2010: led the $450M purchase of the Warriors, then an NBA record.
• 2019: opened the privately financed Chase Center, which cost about $1.4B.
• 2021: Arctos Partners bought 5%, then rose to 13%, both at about a $5.5B valuation.
• 2023: agreed a record $50M WNBA expansion fee, paid over 10 years.
• 2026: one of four finalists for baseball's San Diego Padres, where bids approached $4B; his failed. A group led by José E. Feliciano won at a record $3.9B valuation, approved by MLB owners on 17 August.

Career path

1. 1978

   Graduates from UC Irvine; later adds a Stanford MBA

2. Early 1980s

   Works at Cetus Corporation, FHP International and Booz Allen & Hamilton

3. 1987

   Becomes a partner at Kleiner Perkins

4. 1996

   Backs the women's American Basketball League; it folds in 1998

5. 2006

   Buys a minority stake in the Boston Celtics

6. 2010

   Leads the Warriors purchase and sells the Celtics stake

7. 2015-2022

   Warriors win four NBA titles

8. 2025

   Valkyries begin play and sell out all 22 home games

9. 2026

   Loses the Padres auction; says he will not sell the Warriors

Teams and sports assets

Owns now 4

• teamGolden State WarriorsNBA · Basketball · USSince 2010 · 25% · $450M for 100% (group); Forbes 2026 $13.5B
• teamSanta Cruz WarriorsNBA G League · Basketball · USthrough the Warriors group
• arenaChase Center and Thrive CityBasketball · USSince 2019 · through the Warriors group · about $1.4B to build
• teamGolden State ValkyriesWNBA · Basketball · USSince 2023 · through the Warriors group · $50M expansion fee; Sportico May 2026 $850M

Owned before 3

• teamBoston CelticsNBA · Basketball · USSince 2006 to 2010 · minority
• teamSan Jose Lasers (folded 1998)American Basketball League · Basketball · USSince 1996 to 1998 · owner
• league stakeAmerican Basketball League (folded 1998)American Basketball League · Basketball · USSince 1996 to 1998 · lead backer

Other investments and assets

• Companies and funds: Board seats at Align Technology and NeuroPace; earlier bets included AutoTrader.com and NuVasive. His biography lists him as an original partner in Pebble Beach Company.
• Property: The Warriors group owns Chase Center, its land, Thrive City and a practice facility at the Oakland Marriott.
• Family in the business: Son Kirk Lacob is executive vice president of basketball operations. Son Kent left a vice-president post after about ten years.

Giving and politics

• $1M to the Olin Business School at Washington University.
• Support for Stanford athletics, medicine and business; amounts unpublished.
• His wife, Nicole Curran, is board president of the Warriors Community Foundation.

How they run their teams

• Hands-on: he is chief executive as well as governor and works closely with general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr.
• He sits on the NBA's Planning and Labor committees.
• Sports Illustrated reported that the NBA fined him $500,000 in July 2022. He had said the luxury tax, a league charge on high payrolls, punishes teams for keeping their own players. Status: fine imposed; nothing further reported.
• That season the Warriors had a league-high $346M payroll, including a record $170M of luxury tax.

What they have said

• The $12.5B Lakers price is good news for his limited partners, but he cannot imagine selling.
• He was shocked that Mark Walter agreed to sell the Lakers after under ten months.
• When he agreed the $50M WNBA fee, the record team sale was $10M. Later expansion buyers paid about five times his fee.
• He thinks a roughly $1B appraisal of the Valkyries may be too low and sees $2B to $3B as reachable.
• He wanted payroll under the luxury-tax line in two of four seasons, without sinking to the draft lottery.

Little-known facts

• His Padres offer assumed the 2027 baseball season would probably be lost to a labour dispute. Tom Gores was another finalist.
• As a Celtics part-owner he received a 2008 championship ring.
• Vivek Ranadivé was one of his original Warriors partners and vice chairman until 2013.
• The Valkyries have sold out 30 straight games. Only about 8% of their season-ticket holders also hold Warriors season tickets.