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a pair of phoenix sun According to a new lawsuit claiming misconduct and mismanagement by Ishbia, minority owners allege Matt Ishbia is using the franchise as “his personal piggy bank” and that the Suns’ governor has put the once-profitable team in jeopardy.
The filing in Delaware state court, which was made public Monday and obtained by ESPN, is the latest twist in the ongoing legal battle between Ishbia, who purchased the team in 2023. tough former majority owner Robert Sarver, and Scott Seldin and Andy Kohlberg, who are holdovers from the previous ownership group under Sarver.
Seldin and Kohlberg sued the team in August, alleging Ishbia denied access to internal records and that he organized a capital call scheduled for June 2, 2025 “to pressure and dilute” the ownership shares held by the Suns’ minority owners.
Ishbia sued both men last month and called their lawsuit a “shakedown” in a statement through a spokesperson.
“Ishbia does not own Sons to make money for the company, but he operates it as a private fiefdom for his own personal benefit and for the benefit of his other businesses, including his mortgage company United Wholesale Mortgage,” the latest filing said. “The reality is that Ishbia is using Sons as its own personal piggy bank, including a long list of disputed transactions – only some of which the minority owners are aware of.”
Among the many allegations in the latest filing, Seldin and Kohlberg say that Ishbia made loans to the Suns at interest rates far above market, that he sold the naming rights to the Suns arena to his mortgage company without disclosing details to the minority partners, that he leased it to the Suns for $500,000. phoenix mercurySuns’ practice facility for undisclosed rates and he established a new entity – called the “Player 15 Group” – which he says appears to own the assets that rightfully belong to the Suns.
Regarding the June 2, 2025 capital call, Seldin and Kohlberg also say that if Ishbia did not fund the capital raise by the 10-day deadline, they tried to punitively short its shares while hiding its failure to fund the raise by the deadline.
“In other words, Ishbia missed the trap he set for minority owners and faced a devastating decline in his ownership interest if his failure were discovered – a failure that would decimate his net worth and jeopardize his continued position as an NBA team owner and governor,” the filing said.
In a statement, Michael Karlinsky of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, an attorney representing Seldin and Kohlberg in part of that capital raise, said, “We believe this plan backfired and will result in a substantial dilution of Mr. Ishbia’s interest in the Sons. He has repeatedly abused his position as manager of the franchise to benefit himself – not the Sons. We look forward to moving forward on an expeditious basis and Look forward to presenting our case in court.”
Ishbia has denied the allegations through a spokesperson.
A spokesperson for Ishbia said in a statement to ESPN, “This is not a lawsuit; this is a shameless blow dressed up as a legal process.” “From day one, Matt Ishbia was transparent that he was going to do things differently. In contrast to the way the team had been managed before, Matt made it clear that he would make significant investments in the Suns and the Mercury. He told all investors they could step up with him or sell their stake and step aside. Kohlberg and Seldin remained and now they are trying to free up the value created by Matt.
“Kohlberg and Seldin want to scale back the organization, and they openly admit in this filing that investing in the team and its fans ‘makes no business sense.’ They are advocating neglect. They are free to sell their shares in the open market and if they do not, they should be prepared to lose this lawsuit and participate in Matt’s continued investment in the teams and community.”
Seldin and Kohlberg also say the Suns and Mercury are expected to post net losses after Ishbia’s addition in 2023. The exact figures are unknown, as they have been revised in the latest legal filing.
The filing continues, “Ishbia has spent wildly on player and coach contracts, racked up massive tax fines from the NBA, and built himself an expensive clubhouse to hold court and benefit his guests — with his co-owners footing their share of the bill.” “At the same time, Ishbia has mortgaged the Suns’ future by trading away valuable draft picks for years to come and knowingly foregone significant revenue opportunities, allegedly in service of his ‘focus on winning and success’ and the Suns’ fan experience.”
In 2023, Ishbia bought a 57% controlling stake for $2.28 billion, as ESPN then reported, with Sarwar selling his 37% stake for $1.48 billion. At the time of the 2023 sale, 14 of the 16 partners in the Sons’ ownership group accepted Ishbia’s buyout offer at a valuation of $4 billion. Kohlberg and Seldin were the only two who did not sell.
The latest lawsuit from Seldin and Kohlberg is the seventh against the Suns since November 2024. Others are filed by current or former employees. Some of her allegations include discrimination, retaliation, harassment and wrongful termination.
During a September 24 appearance on ESPN’s “NBA Today”, Ishbia addressed the lawsuits.
“Obviously, anyone can file a lawsuit for any reason, for anything,” Ishbia said. “How many cases have we actually lost? The answer is zero. How many cases will we lose? Zero.”
“The way I look at it, a little different than other people, is we don’t compromise. We don’t compromise with anybody. You want to say, give me $30,000 and I won’t file a lawsuit? I say file a lawsuit. We haven’t done anything wrong. If we do something wrong, we take care of people, but I’m not going to give in to pressure from people.”
The Suns are 11-6 entering Monday night’s game against Houston Rockets,
