The Spurs have added yet another new investor to its ownership group, but this time it’s a San Antonian.
Kimberly Lewis, founder of investment management company KSL Resources LLC, has joined the NBA team’s investor group as a strategic partner, Spurs Sports & Entertainment announced Wednesday.
The transaction has closed and the NBA Board of Governors has approved it, team officials said.
“We are excited to welcome one of San Antonio’s own to the Spurs investor group,” Peter J. Holt, managing partner, said in a statement.
“Kim Lewis’ business acumen and deep-rooted knowledge of our community brings immeasurable value to our organization,” he said. “We look forward to learning from her as we strive to strengthen our organization and embark on our shared mission of enhancing community impact. Together, we are committed to making San Antonio an even better community where everyone can thrive.”
San Antonio’s Kimberly Lewis is the newest member of the Spurs investor group and will serve as a strategic partner, the club announced Wednesday, May 24, 2003.
Spurs courtesy photoThe addition of Lewis comes little more than a week after the Spurs said Paul Viera, founder and CEO of Atlanta-based investment firm Earnest Partners, had become the latest out-of-town addition to the list of shareholders. The Spurs said Viera would serve as a strategic partner and a member of their board of managers after acquiring an undisclosed equity stake in the franchise.
RELATED: Atlanta investment firm CEO Paul Viera acquires stake in San Antonio’s NBA team
The Spurs’ revamp of its ownership group has heightened fears among fans and local officials that the team could leave the city, but the addition of Lewis brings strong San Antonio flavor to the makeup of the owners, who are led by Holt and other members of his San Antonio-based family.
‘Bright future’
Holt has long maintained the Spurs are staying put, a stance he reiterated May 16 when the team won the NBA lottery, giving it the the No. 1 pick in the draft in June. It’s all but certain their choice will be French phenom Victor Wembanyama, the most highly touted prospect since LeBron James in 2003.
“Our future was already bright,” Holt said in Chicago. “Now, it’s going to be through the moon.”
Onboard for the ride will be Lewis, who’s also the chief executive officer of KSL, a diversified investment management company and family office in San Antonio.
David Bojanic, a former professor in marketing at UTSA’s Carlos Alvarez College of Business who is now a Kummer Endowed Professor of marketing and sports at Missouri University of Science and Technology, said there is a “corporate social responsibility” component to the Spurs’ decision to add a local investor.
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“They want to show they do have ties to the area and they want to be a good community partner,” Bojanic said. “It always helps to have somebody who grew up watching the Spurs and cheered for the Spurs… Down the road, if there is ever talk of moving the team, (Lewis) would hopefully be an advocate for keeping the team in San Antonio.”
A Texas native, Lewis earned her bachelor’s in accounting from Texas A&M International University in Laredo and is active in philanthropy focusing on childhood education, the responsible care for children, and the arts, according to a Spurs press release.
“As a long-time resident of San Antonio, I am continuously inspired by the generosity and resilience of our community,” she said in a statement. “Through my years of giving back, I understand the transformational power of investing in our city and the Spurs have made a profound impact on our community. It is an honor to join the investor group of this exceptional organization. I am eager to contribute to their continued success and to help further advance San Antonio in meaningful ways.”
Ownership changes
The additions of Lewis and Viera came shortly after Philadelphia-based food, facilities and uniform services company Aramark said it had sold roughly half of its ownership in the Spurs to an unidentified buyer for about $100 million. Aramark declined to disclose the current size of its stake, but it had owned 10.6 percent as of 2016.
At the time it announced the transaction, Aramark made it clear it was also looking to sell the rest of its stake.
RELATED: Another chunk of Spurs ownership changes hands: Aramark dumps half its stake for $100 million
The Spurs did not respond to questions Wednesday seeking more information about the extent of Lewis’ ownership, including whether she purchased the other half of Aramark’s stake.
Lewis, who received financial advise from Guggenheim Securities, LLC, before buying into the Spurs, is the fifth new owner added to the team since 2021.
In 2021, San Francisco-based global investment firm Sixth Street Partners bought a 20 percent stake, and Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell bought a 10 percent stake.
Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia bought an unspecified interest in 2022.
Diversification
The new blood is part of the Spurs’ efforts to diversify from the team’s longtime base of mostly local owners possessing small percentages of the franchise, a structure the late auto dealership magnate B.J. “Red” McCombs and the late stockbroker Angelo Drossos established when they leased the American Basketball Association’s Dallas Chaparrals in 1973 and moved them to San Antonio.
The group McCombs and Drossos headed later bought the team.
One thing that has remained constant during the ownership shakeup: The Holt family remains the largest shareholder, and Peter J. Holt, as managing partner, has full authority over team operations while giving Spurs CEO R.C. Buford, general manager Brian Wright and coach Gregg Popovich free rein over basketball operations.
It’s a structure that was first established by Peter M. Holt, managing partner when the Spurs won five NBA championships from 1999 through 2014.
“Peter Holt Sr. gave me a great opportunity, gave me great support,” Popovich said recently. “He let R.C. and I do what we needed to do. He was the boss, and we’d keep him informed of what was going on, and it was his ultimate decision. But there was never any interference or anything like that. … Now Peter John’s got it, and nothing’s changed. He’s been great.”
The Spurs’ drive to remake its ownership group is also aimed at simplifying decision-making and infusing new capital as the organization seeks to expand its fan base in Austin and Mexico and builds a $500 million, 45-acre Northwest Side campus dubbed “The Rock at La Cantera” that will include a training facility for the Spurs.
The practice facility portion of the campus is scheduled to open in time for the Spurs’ 2023-24 training camp.
Twitter: Tom_Orsborn