Self-made billionaires tend to be wound differently than the rest of us. Maybe they were unusually competitive or driven from a young age. Maybe they were just extraordinarily bright. Maybe some, like Tony Ressler, showed an unusual acumen and desire to run businesses at an age when most of us were drawn to cartoons and slushies and the 64-Crayola box.
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“I’ve worked since I was 8,” Ressler said. “Pool cleaning. Window cleaning. Truck deliveries. I had a lot of good business. I ran card games. From 8-17, I did fine. I had spending money.”
Wait. Back up a little. Card games?
“I was running gin games at 8 or 9,” he said. “My dad played gin, so I ran that game on Tuesday nights and Saturdays. Fed and served players from six to midnight. Made $40 a week.”
Pause.
“I don’t think I paid taxes on that,” he said.
He’s a bit higher profile these days. Ressler went on to co-found private equity firms. Today, in his day job, he runs Ares Management, which has 27 offices worldwide with $179 billion in assets under management. Ares is currently valued at $12.67 billion.
Yes, he pays taxes.
He also is the majority owner of the Hawks, and among his sports ownership brethren, he is unique in that he doesn’t view his economic desires and drive to build his sports franchise into a successful and profitable machine in any way in conflict with his passions for social justice and causes to empower the Black community and improve Atlanta as a whole.
The fact many others in his economic bracket often are averse to similar social causes partly because they believe it will hurt them financially, Ressler said, “is ass-backwards.”
Ressler, who led a group that purchased the team in 2015 and has invested heavily in the franchise’s physical attributes and on-court product, sat for anexclusive one-hour interview with The Athletic to discuss his desire to build a championship franchise, his decision to spend heavily in free agency — $158 million in contracts on four players: Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari, Rajon Rondo, Kris Dunn — and why he is so driven on social causes.
“I really believe that a more diverse business I work in, a more diverse community that I live in, I think that’s good for business and good for the country,” Ressler said. “If I can have an impact in the businesses or the assets that I influence, I’m going to use my influence to do just that. In today’s world, people seem to think it’s one versus the other, and I think that’s really bad. I actually think you can believe in social justice and be pro-business. For some, for whatever reason, (others believe) it’s one or the other. It’s so ass-backwards. It doesn’t even make sense to me.”
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Ressler and his wife, Jami Gertz, have immersed themselves in numerous causes in Atlanta and surrounding areas. Led by Hawks CEO Steve Koonin, the team expanded voting rights by turning State Farm Arena into the state’s largest-ever polling precinct. More than 40,000 voters participated in early voting for the presidential election, The venue was subsequently used on Election Day and also is open for the runoff election for two Georgia senator positions (along with Mercedes-Benz Stadium). Dozens of other sports venues around the nation followed the Hawks’ lead.
The Hawks also recently became the first pro sports franchise to secure financing with Black-owned banks, securing a $35 million loan for the refinancing of the team’s practice facility, Emory Sports Medicine Complex. Ressler and Gertz, through their family foundation, also are investing $40 million to provide educational resources and create economic opportunities in Black communities. Other initiatives include building recreational centers and basketball courts around the city.
“If we can have an influence on the community and we can do things like helping voting … this sounds so basic to me,” Ressler said. “But I did not want State Farm Arena to become the safest and most efficient voting location on the planet to help Democrats or help Republicans or to help White people or to help Black people. I wanted anyone who wanted to vote to have an easier go at it. Just one year ago, when you talked about voting in Atlanta, you talked about six-hour waits. Frankly, it was a national embarrassment.”
When I asked about other owners who don’t share his views on social action and giving back to the community, Ressler said, “We’re trying to lead in our own way. And if we build a top-tier franchise, a rabid fan base, learn how to win and learn how to help the community that we live in and work in, I actually think more sports owners and business owners would say businesses can be a force of good. Eighty percent of NBA players are African American. So do you think we should ignore what’s going on in the country and the social justice discussion when 80 percent of our business partners are in the African American community? It doesn’t make sense.”
These aren’t new causes for him. He grew up in a relatively segregated middle-class neighborhood in Long Island — “There was a community of African Americans in one town, Italians in another, Jews in another …” — but he has long pushed diversity and inclusion initiatives in his businesses.
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“As someone who has been in the money business for the last 40 years, I think it’s fair to say I could’ve done more and wish I would have,” he said. “Nothing changes overnight. But if you focus on how to increase diversity in American business … and you focus on financial literacy and access to capital for Black entrepreneurs, these to me are all good things to do. And they’re good for your business.”
Sports teams are community assets. They sit on a city’s front porch. Corporations are global. And faceless.
Ressler understood this when he purchased the Hawks. He lived in Los Angeles and knew the perception of detached ownership could be a detriment, so he immediately set up a part-residence in Atlanta and became emotionally and financially invested in the team and community. He now spends about half of his time in Atlanta and the other half between residences in L.A. and Colorado.
“The Atlanta Hawks are a local business. It’s supposed to be meshed into its community,” he said. “You’re trying to be an owner who’s not just investing in the community but in his or her team in an effort to win.”
Falcons owner Arthur Blank long has been driven by social causes. Recognizing the organization has been lax in diversity hiring, the team is strongly considering filling the general manager and/or coaching vacancies with minority candidates. The Braves, owned by Colorado-based Liberty Media, have been far less active in the areas of social justice and at times appear more concerned about upsetting a segment of their fan base. The franchise generally has been tone-deaf when it comes to the recent backlash against Native American names, imagery and practices like “The Chop.”
There’s no guarantee Ressler’s philanthropy and social action endeavors will help heal this corner of the world, any more than there is signing a bunch of free agents, renovating a State Farm Arena and building a practice facility will lead to on-court success. But failure won’t be because he didn’t try. He is driven to succeed, right down to scribbling reams of notes on yellow legal pads while watching games.
“The objective is not to be the eighth seed in the playoffs and pound our chests and say, ‘Mission accomplished,'” he said.
The mission is to win championships. The mission also is to make a difference.
“We’re trying to do both,” Ressler said. “I don’t think you can do just one, at least in our view.”
(Photo: Scott Cunningham / NBAE via Getty Images)
