Owner of the Clippers Steve Ballmer 11 former investors sued him sustainability firm Aspiration Partners.
Ballmer was added this week as a defendant in an existing civil lawsuit against Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg and several others associated with the now-defunct company. Ballmer and the other defendants are accused of fraud and aiding and abetting fraud, with plaintiffs seeking at least $50 million in damages.
“This is a lawsuit to recover millions of dollars that plaintiffs were defrauded into investing in CTN Holdings, Inc. (“Catona”), formerly known as Aspiration Partners, Inc,” states the lawsuit, which was originally filed July 9 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Central District.
Attorney Skip Miller said his firm, Miller Barondess LLP, filed an amended complaint Monday that added the billionaire team owner and his investment company, Ballmer Group, as defendants. in light of recent allegations That's a $28 million deal between the Aspiration star and the Clippers. Kawhi Leonard helped the team bypass the NBA salary cap.
“Ballmer was the ideal partner with deep pockets to finance Catona’s inefficient operations and bring legitimacy to Catona’s carbon credit business,” according to the amended complaint, which was reviewed by The Times. “Because Ballmer had publicly positioned himself as a proponent of sustainability, Katona was an ideal vehicle for Ballmer to secretly bypass the NBA salary cap while purporting to support the company as a legitimate environmental investor.”
While Ballmer did invest millions in Aspiration, it is unknown whether he knew about it or played a role in facilitating the company's deal with Leonard. The Times reached out to the Clippers for comment from Ballmer or a team spokesman but did not receive an immediate response.
CTN Holdings filed for bankruptcy in March and is no longer in business, according to the lawsuit.
At the end of August Sanberg agreed to plead guilty in federal court on charges of defrauding investors and creditors of more than $248 million. September 3 This was reported by investigative journalist Pablo Torre. in his podcast, he said that after reviewing numerous documents and conducting interviews with former employees of the now-defunct firm, he found no evidence of any marketing or advertising work done by Leonard for the company.
According to the amended complaint, this was news to the plaintiffs.
“Ballmer’s purported status as a legitimate investor in Catona was material to Plaintiffs’ decision to invest in Catona and/or maintain their investment in Catona,” the lawsuit states.
It also states that “Sanberg and Ballmer never disclosed to plaintiffs that the millions of dollars Ballmer invested in Katona were intended to allow Ballmer to pass on compensation to Leonard in violation of NBA rules and to keep Katona's failing business afloat financially. Sanberg and Ballmer's scheme to pay Leonard through Katona to avoid the NBA salary cap was only revealed later in 2025 by journalist Pablo Torre.”
Miller said in a statement to The Times: “Many people, including our clients, have been seriously harmed in this case. This lawsuit is filed to compensate them for their losses. I look forward to our day in court to bring justice.”
The NBA announced an investigation into the matter in early September. Speaking at a forum this month organized by Sports and business magazineBallmer said he was “quite confident… that we will deliver [by] rules. So I applaud the NBA's investigation.”
The Clippers said in a statement at the time: “Neither Mr. Ballmer nor the Clippers circumvented the salary cap or committed any violations related to Aspiration. Any statement to the contrary is provably false: the team severed its relationship with Aspiration years ago during the 2022-23 season when Aspiration failed to meet its obligations.”
“Neither the Clippers nor Mr. Ballmer was aware of any misconduct by Aspiration or its co-founder until the government began its investigation.”
Leonard also denies any wrongdoing related to his deal with the now-defunct firm. Asked about this on Sept. 29 during the Clippers' media day to open training camp, Leonard said, “I don't think it's true” that he had not provided any advertising services to the company. He added that he was not paid the full amount due to him under the deal.
