Paul Allen, the owner of Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trailblazers, topped the list of 34 richest sports team owners in the U.S. with a net worth of $15.8 billion.

The 34 billionaires, listed in Forbes magazine, have a total worth of more than $114 billion, indicating how thriving the sports business in the U.S. is. They all own teams in major sports leagues, 15 in the NFL, 14 in the NBA, 7 in the NHL, 5 in MLB and 4 in the Premier League.

But most of them did not became billionaires from their sports teams, rather from running large corporations such as Microsoft, Amway, Carnival Cruises, Franklin Templeton and Home Depot.

Mr Allen was a partner of Mr Bill Gates of Microsoft in the 1970s, but later used his wealth to run the two sports teams. Likewise, Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank used his riches when he purchased the Atlanta Falcons in 2002.

Nine of them have several teams in different sports, led by real estate businessman Stan Kroenke, owner of the St Louis Rams, Arsenal FC, Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche.

Rounding the top 10 are the following sports owners.

  • Richard DeVos, Orlando Magic (Net worth: $6.8 million)
  • Micky Arison, Miami Heat ($5.9 billion)

  • Charles Johnson, San Francisco Giants ($5.6 billion)
  • Stanley Kroenke, St Louis Rams, Arsenal FC, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalance ($5.3 billion)
  • Stephen Ross, Miami Dolphins ($4.5 billion)

  • Malcom Glazer, Manchester United, Tampa Bay Bucaneers ($4.5 billion)
  • Ted Lerne, Washington Nationals ($4 billion)
  • Daniel Gilbert, Cleveland Cavaliers ($3.9 billion)

  • Shahid Khan, Jacksonville Jaguars, Fullham FC ($3.8 billion)
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