Though it has appeared unlikely a local buyer for the New Orleans Hornets would be found in the wake of the NBA's takeover of the team, Yahoo! co-founder David Filo has emerged as a potential owner for the team. Fletcher Mackel of New Orleans' WDSU-TV reports that Filo's name has been circulating as a local option in the Crescent City.
Filo made his fortune as Jerry Yang's partner in the early stages of Yahoo!, and is believed to be worth nearly $3 billion. He grew up outside Lake Charles, in southwestern Louisiana, and attended New Orleans' Tulane University.
Given that upon purchasing the Hornets from longtime owner George Shinn the NBA made no assurances it would work to keep the team in New Orleans, that the franchise would eventually be sold to an out-of-town purchaser seemed to be a foregone conclusion.
New Orleans was a difficult market in which to thrive before Hurricane Katrina further damaged the city's population and economy. The Crescent City has few Fortune 500 companies and a lack of billionaire saviors, Filo and the (sometime tongue-in-cheek) group highlighted by Yahoo!'s own Eric Freeman on Tuesday.
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