Getty Image / Minas Panagiotakis / NHLI
- The Pittsburgh Penguins were recently sold to the Fenway Sports Group for $900 million and former Penguins legend Mario Lemieux reportedly made a fortune
- This wild story details how Pittsburgh’s financial woes led to Mario taking a large ownership stake in the team in the late 90s which is now reportedly worth $350 million in the sale
- Read more articles on BroBible right here
Mario Lemieux aka The Magnificent One aka Super Mario is the greatest player in the history of the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise. He also just reportedly made $350 million after the Penguins were sold to Fenway Sports Group and it all stems from Pittsburgh being unable to pay him in the late 90s.
He was the 1st overall pick in 1984 and played in 17 seasons in the NHL, all of which was with the Penguins. As you’ll see in this wild story below, Mario became a part-owner of the Penguins in 1999 after the organization suffered financial woes and declared bankruptcy.
This entire Twitter thread/story from Joe Pompliano about the sale of the Penguins and boost in wealth to Lemieux is wild but one part that sticks out to me is referring to Mario as ‘a former Penguins player’ in the first tweet. Let’s be clear, he is, was, and will always be the most important player in the team’s history. Referring to Lemiuex as ‘a former Penguins player’ just seems like the wrong way to start this thread but here we are.
Mario Lemieux Reportedly Makes $350 Million On Pittsburgh Penguins Sale
The Pittsburgh Penguins were recently acquired by Fenway Sports Group for about $900 million.
The interesting part?
A former Penguins player is set to make over $350 million from the deal because of one negotiation in 1999.
This is the wild story 👇
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) December 26, 2021
1) First, some history.
After a remarkable career in the Quebec Junior Hockey league, Mario Lemieux was selected #1 overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1984.
He signed a 2-year deal for $600,000, with a $150,000 signing bonus, and got to work. pic.twitter.com/nCB5PKnF9y
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) December 26, 2021
2) Mario Lemieux went on to have a legendary career.
He played for 17 seasons, scored over 750 goals, had 1,200+ assists, and brought home two Stanley Cups in 1991 & 1992.
But that's only part of the story… pic.twitter.com/Sud94m9S3C
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) December 26, 2021
3) Penguins ownership saw their business collapse throughout the 1990s.
Revenue crashed while expenses tripled, and with $100M in debt, the team was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1998.
Their largest creditor?
Mario Lemieux, who was owed over $26 million in deferred salary.
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) December 26, 2021
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
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
6) The Penguins recently ended a 633 game sellout streak that lasted more than 14 years.
And Mario Lemieux is the only person in NHL history to have their name on the Stanley Cup as both a player and owner.
The franchise is now one of the NHL's strongest.
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) December 26, 2021
Not a bad payout for a player who was potentially looking at having to sue his team to recoup some of the money he was owed but instead has become an irreplaceable part of the organization and team’s history.
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
8) Mario Lemieux's deal to buy the Penguins might seem like a no-brainer now, but that wasn't always the case.
Lemieux found leverage & got creative, incentivizing himself with uncapped upside and turned a bad situation into an incredible investment.
As they say, equity is key. pic.twitter.com/UC12iCjfwJ
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) December 26, 2021
If you want to dig deeper into the details, this is a great breakdown of the 1999 negotiation.https://t.co/9oql71TSr8
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) December 26, 2021
In total, Mario Lemieux earned $55,716,960 in NHL salary which translates to about $96,293,055 in today’s dollars after adjusting for inflation. He’s already been a wealthy man for a very long time but making $360 million off this deal would instantly make him one of the wealthiest people in the city of Pittsburgh.
The Fenway Sports Group already owns the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool F.C. amongst other business interests (Roush Racing, etc). Purchasing the Pittsburgh Penguins makes perfect sense for them and it can only mean good things to come for the future of the Penguins organization.