Leslie Lee Alexander
(born June 30, 1943)
is an American attorney, businessman and financier. He is a former bond trader from
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. He formerly owned the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
(NBA) team
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...
for 24 years, from 1993 to 2017.
Early life
He was born in 1943, to a
Jewish family
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
in New York City. In 1965, he graduated from
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
with a bachelor's degree in economics and later earned his juris doctor from the San Diego campus of
Western State University College of Law
Western State College of Law at Westcliff University is a private, for-profit law school in Irvine, California. It offers full and part-time programs and is approved by the American Bar Association. Western State pays a fee to receive service ...
, now known as
Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Thomas Jefferson School of Law (TJSL) is a private law school in San Diego, California. It offers a Juris Doctor and three Master of Laws programs, including one that is exclusively online,"How to enroll in America's first LLM Program". http://l ...
.
Career
Alexander began his career as an attorney. From 1978 to 2009, he was a member of the
California State Bar
The State Bar of California is California's official attorney licensing agency. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, prescribing appropriate disciplin ...
.
His first job was trading options and bonds for the Wall Street firm, Lawrence Kotkin Associates. In 1980, he left to form his own investment company, The Alexander Group. He also owns an 18.5% stake i
First Marblehead a private student loan company.
In the July before the 1993-94 NBA season, Alexander bought the
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...
for $85 million. The Rockets won the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
championship the next two years: one in the '93-94 season and another in the '94-95 season. In 2008, he was listed by ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' magazine as the best owner in the NBA.
In 1998, Alexander attempted to purchase and relocate the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
's
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...
franchise, but a grassroots bid by local businessmen successfully prevented the sale.
From 1997 until early 2007, Alexander was the owner of the
WNBA's
Houston Comets
The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...
. The Comets won the league's first 4 WNBA championships from 1997 to 2000. He sold the team to
Hilton Koch Hilton Koch is a furniture dealer and store owner in Houston Texas at Hilton Furniture. Koch was the owner of the Houston Comets of the WNBA before they folded.
Houston Comets ownership
Koch bought the WNBA Comets from Rockets Owner Les Alexander ...
in January 2007, one year before The Comets folded.
Leslie Alexander launched a joint-venture with the Chinese businessman
Kenneth Huang
Huang Jianhua, also known as Kenneth Huang (; born 1965), is a Chinese businessman. Huang founded Sportscorp China in 2004. In 2009, Huang began investing in Chinese sports leagues and teams.
Early life and education
Born in Guangzhou, China in ...
(founder of Sportscorp in China), which invests in many companies in Asia. In 2006, a group of investors led by Kenneth Huang bought a minority share in the Rockets from Leslie Alexander.
On July 17, 2017, it was announced that the Rockets were for sale. On September 5, 2017, he reached an agreement to sell the Rockets to fellow Texas businessman
Tilman Fertitta
Tilman Joseph Fertitta (born 1957) is an American billionaire businessman and television personality. He is the chairman, CEO, and owner of Landry's, Inc. He also owns the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Houston Rockets. Fertitta is ch ...
, pending league approval, for a worldwide professional sports record of $2.2 billion. Before his departure, Alexander gave the Rockets' General Manager,
Daryl Morey, a new contract and extended player
James Harden
James Edward Harden Jr. (born August 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Harden is regarded as one of the greatest scorers and shooting guards in NBA ...
's contract with a record-breaking $228 million, 4-year deal that will last until the end of the 2022-23 NBA season.
He also retained the two
Larry O'Brien Championship Trophies won by the team in 1993–94 and 1994–95 as mementos of his ownership, and the team commissioned replica trophy replacements for the team upon its sale.
Real estate
He owns a vineyard on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
and the related company Leslie Wine, launched in 2008. He also has a residence in Houston.
[Rockets: Leslie Alexander Biography](_blank)
/ref>
In March 2019, he put up for sale a $3.7 million French manor-style house in Houston.
Personal life
Alexander divorced his wife Nanci (née Shnapier) in 2003, paying a $150 million settlement. They have one child and two grandchildren.
Alexander was raised Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, and now identifies as Agnostic
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...
. He is a vegetarian and an advocate of animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...
. He is a supporter of the Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
and has donated $15,000 in the past 20 years to Democratic candidates. He purchased the duplex penthouse of 18 Gramercy Park
18 Gramercy Park is a 19-story historic building in Manhattan, New York City, USA. Built as a hotel in 1927 and designed by the architectural firm Murgatroyd & Ogden, it was a women's temporary residence owned by The Salvation Army from 1963 to ...
in 2012, reportedly for $42 million.
Alexander's net worth is an estimated $1.54 billion as of Q1-2016, placing him at #401 on the list of richest people in the United States.
On March 27, 2017, Alexander pledged $10 million to 20 Houston charities, including the Houston Area Women's Center, Houston Public Library Foundation, Healthcare for the Homeless – Houston, and Citizens for Animal Protection. He also pledged $10 million in relief efforts in wake of Hurricane Harvey
Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest t ...
, which ravaged the city in August 2017.
Alexander is also a supporter of the Hampton Bays
Hampton Bays is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Southampton in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York. It is considered as part of the region of Long Island known as The Hamptons. The population was 13,603 at the 20 ...
center which aims to rescue animals. In 1998, he and his ex-wife were recognized as the largest individual donors to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).Meet the Animal Rights Movement’s Rich Aunt
''Consumerfreedom.com'', 22 October 2009 (accessed 21 April 2019)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Leslie
1943 births
Living people
People from Manhattan
Businesspeople from New York City
Lawyers from New York City
American agnostics
American billionaires
American derivatives traders
American financial company founders
American financiers
American investors
California lawyers
Houston Comets owners
Houston Rockets owners
Jewish activists
Jewish agnostics
Jewish American sportspeople
National Basketball Association executives
National Basketball Association owners
New York University alumni
Thomas Jefferson School of Law people
Women's National Basketball Association executives