Steve Ballmer, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, invested $50 million in Aspiration, a financial firm focused on sustainability, through his personal LLC on September 14, 2021. The Clippers recently announced a $300 million cryptocurrency partnership deal with Aspiration. This brand new investment makes Aspiration the “first founding partner” of the team’s new stadium, the Intuit Dome. Recent developments have raised alarming questions about Aspiration’s use of depositors’ money. They’ve raised the stink of a coverup over the company’s relationship with its star player, Kawhi Leonard.
In 2022, Aspiration agreed to pay Kawhi Leonard $1.75 million. This payment was made to him via his LLC, KL2 Aspire, under a four-year endorsement agreement. Only nine days before the payment, Dennis Wong took a huge step. The minority owner of the LA Clippers personally invested almost $2 million in Aspiration through his personal LLC. These transactions have recently come under fire. This issue became more pressing after Aspiration declared bankruptcy in March 2023 with $170 million in reported liabilities.
At the time of its bankruptcy filing, Aspiration had $30 million in obligations to the Clippers, making them by far the company’s largest creditor. Ballmer was mortified to discover that he’d overlooked all the issues in Aspiration’s financial disclosures. This experience forced him to address his short-sightedness in their playbooks.
“These were guys who committed fraud. Look, they conned me. They conned me,” – Steve Ballmer
In March 2023, Ballmer doubled down on his support and made an additional $10 million investment in Aspiration. This investment marked a Series C round of financing that other existing investors quickly followed. Though the company had amassed significant backing, the overall financial health of Aspiration still proved to be touch-and-go. Michael Cherny, co-founder and CEO of Aspiration, left the company in 2022 during these disheartening times.
The series of events leading up to Leonard’s lucrative endorsement deal have inspired claims of foul play. In making the case for those billing fraud charges, prosecutors alleged an unnamed employee told Leonard the payment was meant to avoid salary cap restrictions. Cherny countered these accusations, claiming Leonard’s contract had “three pages of really detailed requirements.”
“I made an investment in these guys thinking it was on the up-and-up, and they conned me at this stage,” – Steve Ballmer
As NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said recently of America’s critical juncture, “We have an opportunity here.” He focused on the importance of looking deeply into any actual wrongdoing in the Aspiration deals, including its connections to other players and team owners.
“I think that the goal of a full investigation is to find out if there really was impropriety,” – Adam Silver
Public perception would further obfuscate the situation Silver worried about.
“Also, in a public-facing sport, the public at times reaches conclusions that later turn out to be completely false,” – Adam Silver
As Americans faced these same financial hardships, Joseph Sanberg—Aspiration’s co-founder and self-made millionaire—pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. Federal prosecutors claim that in pursuit of this scheme he defrauded investors and lenders out of $248 million through fraudulent loans and other false statements.
Truths regarding Aspiration’s financial soundness and ties to major players in the sports world continue to unfold. This begs the question as to how these close relationships may have skewed transactions and collaborations.
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