The NBA Board of Governors approved Mark Cuban’s sale of the controlling interest in the Dallas Mavericks to casino mogul Miriam Adelson and her family.
Patrick Dumont, Adelson’s son-in-law and the president and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., will serve as the Mavericks’ governor.
The transaction is expected to close this week, according to a news release from the league on Wednesday.
According to earlier reports, Cuban is expected to maintain control of the Mavericks’ basketball operations.
Cuban, 65, who recently announced he was leaving the popular business TV program Shark Tank after a 16th season next year, rose to fame quickly after buying the Mavericks in 2000.
The Adelson family’s majority stake is valued at a reported $3.5bn. Forbes’ most recent NBA franchise valuations pegged the Mavericks as being worth $4.5bn, the seventh-most valuable team in the league.
Forbes has also estimated Adelson, 78, as the fifth-richest woman in the world, controlling $32.3bn in wealth. She is the widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
Adelson is the third woman to be the current principal owner of an NBA franchise, joining Jeanie Buss of the Los Angeles Lakers and Gayle Benson of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Cuban said almost a year ago he was interested in partnering with the Sands. He has been a proponent of legalizing gambling in Texas, an issue that did not make it out of the state legislature in a biennial session that ended earlier this year.
Cuban has held a majority stake in the Mavericks since January 2000. He bought the team for $285m. Dallas were one of the worst franchises in pro sports in the 1990s, but turned into one of the best under Cuban, with help from star forward Dirk Nowitzki.
The Mavericks won the franchise’s only championship in 2011 with Nowitzki leading the way.
Reuters contributed reporting
