Minority owners claim Ishbia mismanaging Suns in new lawsuit

Two minority owners of the Phoenix Suns claim Mat Ishbia uses the franchise as “his personal piggy bank” and that the Suns governor has pushed a once-profitable team into the red, according to a new lawsuit alleging misconduct and mismanagement by Ishbia.

The Delaware state court filing that was made public Monday and obtained by ESPN is the latest twist in an ongoing legal battle between Ishbia, who purchased the team in 2023 from troubled former majority owner Robert Sarver, and Scott Seldin and Andy Kohlberg, who are holdovers from the former ownership group under Sarver.

Seldin and Kohlberg sued the team in August, alleging that Ishbia denied access to internal records and made a capital call on June 2, 2025, “to pressure and dilute” shares owned by the Suns’ minority shareholders.

Ishbia countersued the two men last month and called their trial a “shakedown” in a statement through a spokesperson.

“Ishbia does not own the Suns to make money for the company, but he operates them as a personal fiefdom for his own personal gain and for the benefit of his other businesses, including his mortgage company United Wholesale Mortgage,” the latest filing states. “The reality is that Ishbia is using the Suns as his personal piggy bank, including through a long list of conflicting transactions – only a few of which the minority owners are aware of.”

Among several allegations in the latest filing, Seldin and Kohlberg claim that Ishbia made a loan to the Suns at a well-above-market interest rate, sold the naming rights to the Suns’ arena to his mortgage company without disclosing details to the minority partners, leased the Phoenix Mercury practice facility himself at undisclosed rates, and created a new entity – called the “Player 15 Group” – which, according to them, appears to hold assets that rightfully belong to the group. Suns.

Regarding the June 2, 2025 capital call, Seldin and Kohlberg also claim that Ishbia attempted to punitively dilute their shares if they did not fund a capital raise within 10 days, while hiding its own failure to fund on time.

“In other words, Ishbia erred in the trap he set for minority owners and faced a devastating dilution of his ownership interest if his failure were discovered – a failure that would erase his net worth and jeopardize his status as owner and governor of an NBA team,” the filing states.

In a statement, Michael Carlinsky of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, an attorney representing Seldin and Kohlberg, said of the capital raise: “We believe this scheme has backfired and will result in a substantial reduction of Mr. Ishbia’s interest in the Suns. He has repeatedly abused his position as manager of the franchise for his own benefit – not that of the Suns. We look forward to moving forward quickly and presenting our case in court.”

Ishbia, through a spokesperson, denied the allegations.

“This is not a lawsuit; it is a brazen takedown disguised as a legal proceeding,” an Ishbia spokesperson said in a statement to ESPN. “From day one, Mat Ishbia was transparent that he was going to do things differently. Unlike how the team was run before, Mat made it very clear that he would invest significantly in the Suns and Mercury. He told all the investors that they could follow him or sell their stake and get out. Kohlberg and Seldin stayed and now they are trying to unlock the value Mat created.

“Kohlberg and Seldin want to take the organization backwards, and they openly admit in this filing that investing in the team and its fans ‘makes no business sense’. They are advocating negligence. They are free to sell their shares on the open market and if they don’t, they should be prepared to lose this lawsuit and participate in Mat’s continued investments in the teams and the community.”

Seldin and Kohlberg also say the Suns and Mercury are operating at a net loss since Ishbia came on board in 2023. The exact numbers are unknown, as they were redacted in the latest legal filing.

“Ishbia spent heavily on player and coaching contracts, incurred enormous tax penalties from the NBA, and built himself an expensive clubhouse to hold his court and distribute favors to his guests – with his co-owners paying their share of the bill,” the filing continues. “At the same time, Ishbia mortgaged the Suns’ future by trading away valuable draft picks for years to come and knowingly forfeited significant revenue opportunities, allegedly in service of his ‘focus on winning and success’ and the Suns fan experience.”

In 2023, Ishbia purchased a 57% majority stake for $2.28 billion, as ESPN reported then, with Sarver selling his 37% stake for $1.48 billion. At the time of the 2023 sale, 14 of the 16 partners in the Suns ownership group accepted Ishbia’s buyout offer at a valuation of $4 billion. Kohlberg and Seldin were the only two not to sell.

Seldin and Kohlberg’s latest lawsuit marks the seventh against the Suns since November 2024. Others have been filed by current or former employees. Some of their allegations include discrimination, retaliation, harassment and wrongful termination.

During a Sept. 24 appearance on ESPN’s “NBA Today,” Ishbia addressed the lawsuits.

“Obviously, anyone can file a lawsuit for any reason, for anything they want,” Ishbia said. “How many cases have we actually lost? The answer is zero. How many are we going to lose? Zero.

“The way I look at it, a little differently than others, is that we don’t settle by agreement. We don’t settle with someone. You mean, give me $30,000 and I won’t sue? I say sue. We haven’t done anything wrong. If we do something wrong, we take care of the people, but I’m not going to let myself be swayed by the people.”

The Suns are 11-6 heading into Monday night’s game against the Houston Rockets.