In September 2017, Leslie Alexander sold the Houston Rockets to Tilman Fertitta for $2.2 billion. Les had owned the Rockets for 24 years, fortuitously purchasing them from Charlie Thomas for $85mm in 1993. Doing the quick math, Mr. Alexander was able to make a return of 25 times on his original investment at an annual compounded rate of 14.5%. This return may be greater as it is (a) unknown what distributions Les made to himself throughout his ownership tenure and (b) unclear what kind of leverage was used by Les at the time of acquisition (Mr. Alexander does come from a bond trading background, after all).
Thoughts on Tilman Fertitta’s acquisition of the Rockets
