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Tech investor and social media pioneer Alexis Ohanian told Bloomberg News Tuesday that he's "absolutely" interested in buying jay-Z's shares, equal to 0.067 percent of the Nets team and a somewhat larger percentage of the Barclays Center holding company. Ohanian is a native of Brooklyn and Nets season ticket-holder.
Diedre Bolton, host of Bloomberg's "Money Moves" asked Ohanian, founder of Reddit.com, about his interest in the team.
"You're a big Nets fan," noted Bolton. "Jay-Z has to sell off his stake which is pretty small. Would you buy it?"
"Absolutely," answered Ohanian. "In fact, I have tried to make as many public and private overtures as I can to let HOVA know that I would absolutely be honored to buy those shares."
Ohanian, in fact, tweeted his interest last week, saying he wanted to buy Jay-Z's shares.
My man @joshglasser gave me the great idea to grab Jay-Z's @brooklynnets shares.
— Alexis Ohanian (@alexisohanian) April 10, 2013
Ohanian, who turns 30 next week, is the first investor to admit interest in Jay-Z's shares. League sources say interest is high, but the final decision will be Jay-Z's. The hip hop mogul must sell his stake before he can represent NBA players as an agent. He paid a reported $1 million for his interest in the team and arena.
Ohanian sold Reddit.com to Conde Nast in 2006, the year after he graduated from the University of Virginia. He remains on its board of directors. Ohanian has also been active in both New York tech issues and web censorship issues, leading the fight against legislation that would have limited internet freedom.
He posted Wednesday on NetsDaily, saying he hoped to "make the Nets the most internet team in the league" and posted this image. Ohanian has been nominated for the TIME 100 this year and previously was named to Forbes "30 Under 30."
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