Another potential owner: David Tepper

[TPanther920]

I wonder if this will speed the process up or will Richardson drag it out. Hopefully potential buyers are aware of the NFL calendar.

[Mr. Scot]

Realistically speaking, if he wanted a new stadium, he could pay for a pretty big chunk of it himself.

But then there's this:

Quote

Again, not that you’d know it. “I will tell you this,” says his friend Phil Glassman, a neighbor with whom Tepper plays poker on Thursdays and golf on Saturdays. “If Dave can take twelve bucks off me on the golf course, he will do it, with pleasure and with a smile.”

Tepper loves it when people say things like this about him. “They’ll also tell you, ‘He never carries cash and has to borrow money to pay for things.’ See?” he says, opening his wallet. It is indeed empty. Also, he could use a new one. “I’m just a regular upper-middle-class guy who happens to be a billionaire.”

Obviously, he has professional reasons for wanting to come off this way—investors like to think the money managers handling their pension funds and endowments are penny-pinching rather than profligate. But for him, it’s more like an obsession. He gleefully describes how he talked the artist Peter Max down on a series of portraits of hedge-fund managers he did for Trader Monthly a few years ago. He’s been known to badger the secretaries about spending too much money on paper cups for the office and for years drove to work in a rusted minivan even while, one employee notes, “half the people in the office were driving Porsches.”

Uuuuhhh...yeah.

So if he did want a new stadium, it sounds like he'd look for as much as he could get from the community.

[Moo Daeng]

He certainly comes across as a giant douche in the select quotes.  

[TPanther920]

How does being frugal equate to being a douche? You don't accumulate wealth by squandering it.  Beside if you had 11 billion dollars you wouldn't give a crap what anyone thought either.

[Mr. Scot]

5 minutes ago, TPanther920 said:

I wonder if this will speed the process up or will Richardson drag it out. Hopefully potential buyers are aware of the NFL calendar.

Technically, Richardson doesn't control the timetable.  The firms he hired to handle the sale do.

From The Observer...

Quote

 

On financial matters, the sale will be led by Steve Greenberg of the New York investment bank Allen & Company LLC, the team said in a statement. Joe Leccese – New York-based chairman of Proskauer Rose LLP – and Billy Moore – a Charlotte-based attorney with Moore & Van Allen – will handle legal matters.

...

Allen & Company is a notoriously tight-lipped, privately held bank that has handled deals for high-profile clients such as Coca-Cola, News Corp., and Google according to reports.

 

So until the final bids are made and presented to Richardson for him to make his choice, everything is in the hands of these guys.

[Mr. Scot]

4 minutes ago, TPanther920 said:

How does being frugal equate to being a douche? You don't accumulate wealth by squandering it.  Beside if you had 11 billion dollars you wouldn't give a crap what anyone thought either.

I'd say a guy who says stuff like this...

Quote

“Sometimes,” he whispers, leaning across the table, “if someone is an asshole, like a waiter at a restaurant, I think, I could just buy this place and fire that guy.”

...probably doesn't really care if people think negatively of him.  Heck, from that article, it sounds like he enjoys it.

Keeping a pair of brass testicles on your desk also doesn't really scream "worried about people's opinions".

But that said, he's also a legitimate philanthropist.

From his Wikipedia page...

Quote

After Hurricane Sandy, David Tepper donated $200,000 in gift cards to Jersey City and Hoboken families who suffered loss in the storm.

 

[Mr. Scot]

Lemme also add, I'm not sure if a "bidding war" is actually possible given the process.  I think this is one of those things where they have sealed bids and such.

That said, Tepper could probably pretty easily offer a higher bid than anyone else, and it might be higher by a substantial amount.

[pnthrs]

33 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Lemme also add, I'm not sure if a "bidding war" is actually possible given the process.  I think this is one of those things where they have sealed bids and such.

That said, Tepper could probably pretty easily offer a higher bid than anyone else, and it might be higher by a substantial amount.

That's an interesting thought. I could also see him being a more conservative bidder given his frugal nature and his personal knowledge of the value of ownership. He could easily be bidding against guys who are willing to pay more than market value just for the "clout" of being an NFL owner and I could see him having no interest over bidding. Like you said though the investment bankers will handle all of that process behind closed doors and NDAs. I would love love love to have this process be open.  Who knows. 

All I know is that the person who runs this business properly is who I want. Charlotte/Carolina is a prime NFL market and a smart business owner like Tepper will see that and the future will work its self out. If we end up with some idiots like Sabates/NASCAR who have more money than sense but have carolina ties we could lose the team regardless. 

[Snake]

My favorite so far. If you're a part of the Steelers you want to win. 

[Mr. Scot]

6 minutes ago, pnthrs said:

That's an interesting thought. I could also see him being a more conservative bidder given his frugal nature and his personal knowledge of the value of ownership. He could easily be bidding against guys who are willing to pay more than market value just for the "clout" of being an NFL owner and I could see him having no interest over bidding. Like you said though the investment bankers will handle all of that process behind closed doors and NDAs. I would love love love to have this process be open.  Who knows. 

All I know is that the person who runs this business properly is who I want. Charlotte/Carolina is a prime NFL market and a smart business owner like Tepper will see that and the future will work its self out. If we end up with some idiots like Sabates/NASCAR who have more money than sense but have carolina ties we could lose the team regardless. 

I have nothing against Sabates, but I do feel like his group is one of the lesser options.

At this point, we don't even know who his majority owner is. Given the heavy NASCAR influence, Smith or France would seem likely. No offense to NASCAR fans, but I'm not really sure I like the idea of a bunch of race car drivers owning the Panthers. 

Plus when it comes to the real money, there are some serious heavy hitters involved here. Sabates and his friends obviously are wealthy, but next to the names being thrown around, they come off like a group of guys pulling money to buy a lottery ticket.

Also got to admit, given how much he talks, I'm not sure Felix gets what a non-disclosure agreement is supposed to be about.

[CarolinaSamurai]

I like this guy 

To those afraid of the team moving. Don't be. Weve discussed that ad nauseum and it's been said many times before our states combined is one of the largest populations in the NFL and growing. So stop being afraid.

[Mr. Scot]

From what I've read, a lot of his wealth came through buying companies that were in bad shape and then profiting once they got better.

 

So...yeah.

[Woodie]

3 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

Basically, full speed all the time, balls to the wall attitude.

Would probably be more aggressive in approach and urgency to win than we are used to.  Doesn't strike me as the type to let sentimentality handcuff his goals.  

[Palmetto]

5 hours ago, WOW!! said:

11 Billion dam!!

Set up some  kids charities and college funds in the Carolina's and win us over