Ballmer of the Clippers intends to withdraw the fraud case over the salary of Kawhi Leonard
Attorneys for Steve Ballmer are seeking to dismiss a lawsuit alleging the LA Clippers owner was involved in defrauding superstar Kawhi Leonard through a defunct greenfield banking company, calling the allegations “outrageous” and “false,” according to court documents.
The filing is in response to a lawsuit originally filed on July 9, 2025, by 11 investors in Aspiration, which filed for bankruptcy in March of that year. The lawsuit alleges that investors were defrauded of millions by Aspiration founder Joseph Sanberg and others in the company.
At the time, Ballmer was not named as a defendant.
But following a series of reports by journalist and podcast host Pablo Torre that Ballmer’s investment in Aspiration was an attempt to circumvent the NBA’s salary cap, the investors filed an amended complaint on November 3, 2025, naming Ballmer as a defendant.
“Plaintiffs would not have invested and/or maintained their investment in (Aspiration) if Ballmer and Sanberg had disclosed the true nature of Ballmer’s investment,” the Nov. 3 complaint reads. “So Ballmer supported and participated in Sanberg’s fraud.”
Ballmer and the Clippers deny that they overpaid Leonard and said they are cooperating with the NBA’s investigation into the allegations.
“I understand that Mr. Ballmer and his attorneys deny our claims, but the facts speak for themselves and strongly support our case,” said Skip Miller, plaintiffs’ attorney and partner at Miller Barondess, LLP in Los Angeles. “They were detailed in our case. I will not repeat them here. We will file this case in court and not in the media.”
In September 2021, the Clippers and Aspiration announced a $300 million, 23-year sponsorship deal, which includes signage at the Clippers’ new stadium, Inglewood, California, and part of the jersey. That same month, Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration, The Athletic reported. Four months later, in April 2022, Aspiration signed a four-year, $28 million sponsorship deal with Leonard.
An unnamed employee said to work for Aspiration told Torre last year that the deal with Leonard was a “salary skimming.”
In Monday’s filing, Ballmer’s attorneys said Ballmer’s name was added to the lawsuit “out of (investors’) eagerness to recover assets defrauded by Sanberg from anyone with the means to pay” and that “there are no facts indicating an agreement between Ballmer and Sanberg to engage in wage evasion.”
They added later, “While speculation and unsupported speculation may be fine in the world of Torre’s podcast, they have no place in a formal lawsuit.” Ballmer’s lawyers said the allegations in the amended complaint “follow almost word for word Torre’s podcast comments.”
“I didn’t write this case, so I can’t speak for the plaintiffs’ frustration with Kawhi Leonard’s secret scheme to get nearly $50 million in off-the-job investments,” Torre said. “I stand by my reporting, backed up by thousands of pages of internal documents and multiple Aspirational employees who have alleged on my show that Steve Ballmer — and Clippers owner Dennis Wong — hid the transfer plan. We continue to welcome discussion with the Clippers, who have declined interview requests since last summer.”
In the filing, Ballmer’s lawyers said the Clippers owner was a victim of Sanberg’s fraud and lost his investment.
In October 2025, Sanberg pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. Each count carries a maximum of 20 years in prison, and sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 23, 2026, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California at Los Angeles.
Ballmer’s lawyers asked the court to rule that the investors failed to state sufficient facts to establish a valid claim. Ballmer’s lawyers also asked for the case to be dismissed. A hearing is scheduled for March 9, 2026, in Los Angeles County Superior Court in the city of Los Angeles.
