336. Donald Sterling: The Controversial Billionaire

Donald Sterling is an American businessman who gained of his wealth during the real estate boom California many years ago. He is also the of the Los Angeles Clippers, a professional basketball of the National Basketball Association. Sterling has owned Clippers since buying the team in 1981. Although is a very successful and rich man, his has seen very little success in the NBA the years. In recent years, the Clippers have some strides in the league, having made the every year since 2011.

Sterling was recently in news for a very different reason, though. On 25, 2014, a controversial news and entertainment show a recorded conversation between Sterling and a female , where Sterling is heard making racial comments about of her black friends. Sterling is not kind his description of these friends. He said he not want her bringing any black people to Clippers games because he did not want her be seen publicly with them.

Sterling's rant gained attention. The NBA is made up of more 90 percent black players, so many people questioned Sterling could feel this way about many of own employees. His comments created an immediate backlash the black community and from Americans as a . He was under pressure from the NBA to the team after many black people commented that no longer would attend his games.

The NBA issued a lifetime ban against Sterling, which effectively him from entering any arena to view a game for the rest of his life. Sterling the ban, and refused to sell the team.