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Jewish billionaire Mat Ishbia buys Phoenix NBA, WNBA teams from disgraced Jewish owner
(JTA) — Mat Ishbia, a billionaire mortgage lender who in high school was named Jewish athlete of the year by his hometown Jewish newspaper, has reportedly reached a $4 billion agreement to purchase the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.
Ishbia is buying the teams from Robert Sarver, who cited his Jewish identity when he announced in September that he would sell the basketball teams he has owned since 2004.
Sarver, a real estate businessman with a net worth of nearly $1 billion, announced the sale after facing a suspension and $10 million fine as a result of an investigation that found a pattern of inappropriate and abusive behavior, including racist remarks and sexual harassment toward employees.
“As a man of faith, I believe in atonement and the path to forgiveness,” Sarver said in a statement at the time, which was just before the High Holidays when teshuvah, the Jewish idea of repentance, is a central theme. The Tucson native is a member of the Reform synagogue Temple Chai in Phoenix.
Ishbia, president and CEO of Michigan-based United Wholesale Mortgage, has a net worth of $5.6 billion, according to Bloomberg. His firm is the largest wholesale mortgage lender in the United States.
According to ESPN, Ishbia has been pursuing NBA and NFL teams in recent years and has a relationship with NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who is also Jewish. The sale will become final pending approval from the NBA’s board of governors.
The $4 billion price tag is the most expensive in basketball history, and second-highest for a North American sports franchise, behind only the $4.65 billion sale of the NFL’s Denver Broncos in June. At 42 years old, Ishbia will become the NBA’s youngest team owner.
Ishbia was a walk-on basketball player at Michigan State University, where he played in three Final Fours and won a national championship in 2000. His $32 million gift to his alma mater in 2021 was the largest individual donation in the school’s history.
Ishbia also played for Detroit’s youth Maccabi team at 13 years old, and as a senior in high school was named Jewish athlete of the year by the Detroit Jewish News. He is a member of the Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation’s board of governors.
Justin Ishbia, Mat’s brother, will make a sizable investment and serve as the teams’ alternate governor, according to ESPN.
Justin was one of the most giving Jews in the most recent campaign cycle. Both brothers have given widely, to both Democrats and Republicans.
In 2020, Mat Ishbia donated to both Republicans seeking Senate seats in Georgia, both of whom lost. Last year, he donated to the campaign of Alex Lasry, the Jewish Milwaukee Bucks executive who briefly ran for Senate in Wisconsin.
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The post Jewish billionaire Mat Ishbia buys Phoenix NBA, WNBA teams from disgraced Jewish owner appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Exclusive: Israeli Officials Harshly Critical of Steve Witkoff’s Influence on US Policy on Gaza, Iran, i24NEWS Told
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – Amid growing disagreements with the Trump administration over the composition of the Board of Peace for Gaza and the question of a strike on Iran, officials in Israel point to a key figure behind decisions seen as running counter to Israeli interests: Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
The officials mention sustained dissatisfaction with Witkoff. Sources close to the PM Netanyahu told i24NEWS on Saturday evening: “For several months now, the feeling has been that envoy Steve Witkoff has strong ties, for his own reasons, across the Middle East, and that at times the Israeli interest does not truly prevail in his decision-making.”
This criticism relates both to the proposed inclusion of Turkey and Qatar in Gaza’s governing bodies and to the Iranian threat. A senior Israeli official put it bluntly: “If it turns out that he is among those blocking a strike on Iran, that is far more than a coincidence.”
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EU Warns of Downward Spiral After Trump Threatens Tariffs Over Greenland
European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on June 17, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Yves Herman
European Union leaders on Saturday warned of a “dangerous downward spiral” over US President Donald Trump‘s vow to implement increasing tariffs on European allies until the US is allowed to buy Greenland.
“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Antonio Costa said in posts on X.
The bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said tariffs would hurt prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic, while distracting the EU from its “core task” of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“China and Russia must be having a field day. They are the ones who benefit from divisions among allies,” Kallas said on X.
“Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity. If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO.”
Ambassadors from the European Union’s 27 countries will convene on Sunday for an emergency meeting to discuss their response to the tariff threat.
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Israel Says US Gaza Executive Board Composition Against Its Policy
FILE PHOTO: Displaced Palestinians shelter at a tent camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Haseeb Alwazeer/File Photo
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday that this week’s Trump administration announcement on the composition of a Gaza executive board was not coordinated with Israel and ran counter to government policy.
It said Foreign Minister Gideon Saar would raise the issue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The statement did not specify what part of the board’s composition contradicted Israeli policy. An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment.
The board, unveiled by the White House on Friday, includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Israel has repeatedly opposed any Turkish role in Gaza.
Other members of the executive board include Sigrid Kaag, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process; an Israeli‑Cypriot billionaire; and a minister from the United Arab Emirates, which established relations with Israel in 2020.
Washington this week also announced the start of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s plan, announced in September, to end the war in Gaza. This includes creating a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in the enclave.
The first members of the so-called Board of Peace – to be chaired by Trump and tasked with supervising Gaza’s temporary governance – were also named. Members include Rubio, billionaire developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.