Mario Lemieux is reportedly a very rich man after the recent sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Penguins recently sold to Fenway Sports Group for roughly $900 million, and the legendary NHL player apparently made out like a bandit. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Why? It’s actually pretty interesting. According to Joe Pompliano, the team couldn’t pay their star player after declaring bankruptcy, and Lemieux decided to take the $26 million he was owed in deferred salary as equity in the team when he bought it with a new ownership group.
4) But rather than chase pennies on the dollar in court, Mario Lemieux came up with a brilliant solution.
Lemieux offered to buy the team with an investor group, financing his part by converting $20M of his deferred salary into equity.
Once done, Lemieux owned 25% of the team.
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) December 26, 2021
Well, that apparently paid off in a huge way because he’s now turned that $26 million into roughly $360 million, according to Pompliano.
7) Mario Lemieux increased his equity stake over the years & is expected to stay as a small minority owner after the sale.
But at a $900M valuation, that means Lemieux turned his $26M deferred salary into roughly $360M.
That makes it one of the best athlete investments ever.
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) December 26, 2021
It never hurts to make a bunch of cash, and it sounds like that’s exactly what Lemieux did with his crafty and smart thinking more than two decades ago.
Whenever you manage to turn roughly $20 million into more than $350 million, you know you’re doing something right.
5) Since buying the Penguins in 1999, Mario Lemieux and his ownership group have revitalized the franchise.
Annual revenue is up from $55M to $185M, they’ve built a new arena and have locked in lucrative cable deals.
Even better?
They also won 3 more Stanley Cup trophies. pic.twitter.com/GmOIPkjNbl
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) December 26, 2021
This also isn’t the first time we’ve heard of someone turning their contracts into a lot more money than they’re worth.
Bobby Bonilla famously turned his deal with the Mets into way more money to be paid to him over a couple decades.
The former Penguins star managed to go even way bigger!
Just a friendly reminder that – because of one of the absolute best contracts ever constructed – tomorrow is Bobby Bonilla Day, and every July 1st for the next 14 years. Cha-ching! pic.twitter.com/dY1c5Eonil
— Rich Sandera ✈️ (@richsandera) June 30, 2021
Props to Lemieux for getting his money. You just love to see it!