Yup..and what does he own? 5% of RIM? What is 5% worth? What did it used to be worth?
If you believe he isn't worth over a billion you're kidding yourself.
8 out of 30 Owners (10 counting Thomson & Leonsis?)....so it is pretty obvious you don't need to be a billionaire to be an NHL owner.
Once you reach a net worth of around $350M or so the rest is just for show. I don't think any of these guys are going to be cashing in that net worth to prop up a franchise. They take on debt and use other people's money to bankroll the team, but...you need to have money to get people to give you money.
Even when teams go belly-up...the Owners still have most of their money. And if they don't it isn't because of the hockey team.
A terrible team might lose $15M a year (those losing more are beyond terrible). If you are worth $350M that is 4% of your worth. I'd assume with investments you would be earning more than that by default, never mind any business related income you receive.
It is when business is so-so or bad AND your franchise is losing $15M+ a year that these guys get fed up and stop pumping money into the franchise. Nearly all of them could afford to stick it out...but that isn't smart business...so they turn in the keys.
Being worth $15B means nothing, a guy worth $15B might be more reluctant to keep absorbing losses from an NHL team than a guy worth $250M. Both are capable of absorbing the losses without losing money personally (overall), but some might not want to. A dollar is still worth a dollar if you have 200B of them or 200M of them. It's not like an Owner worth $450B is any better than an owner worth $4.5B. There is a point where it doesn't matter anymore...and in the NHL that point is pretty low. Under $500M.
