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Who is Donald Sterling? An FAQ on the Clippers owner's history, past lawsuits (updated)
Team owner Donald Sterling of the Los Angeles Clippers watches the San Antonio Spurs play against the Memphis Grizzlies during Game One of the Western Conference Finals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at AT&T Center on May 19, 2013 in San Antonio, Texas.
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Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling attends the NBA playoff game between the Clippers and the Golden State Warriors, April 21, 2014 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said April 26 that the NBA is investigating Sterling for alleged racist comments
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OAKLAND, CA - APRIL 27: Los Angeles Clippers players sit on the bench wearing their warm-up tops inside out against the Golden State Warriors in Game Four of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2014 NBA Playoffs at ORACLE Arena on April 27, 2014 in Oakland, California. The players wore theirs warm up this way in protest of owner Donald Sterling's racially insensitive remarks. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
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Beleaguered Clippers owner Donald Sterling probably doesn't want to listen to what Chris Ames has to say about his self-congratulatory ad campaign.
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Los Angeles County Sheriff's officers stand outside an apartment building where Scott Sterling, the son of the Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, lived in Malibu on Wednesday, Jan.2,2012. Scott Sterling was found dead of an apparent drug overdose at his Malibu home, authorities said.
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The NBA is continuing to investigate alleged racist remarks by Clippers team owner Donald Sterling. Who is Sterling? KPCC put together an FAQ that reveals the controversial billionaire's roots in Los Angeles, as well as his previous brushes with controversy.
RELATED: NBA commissioner on Clippers owner Donald Sterling's alleged racist remarks: No sanctions yet
What's his past?
- Born: Donald Tokowitz in Chicago, Illinois, in 1934
- Only son of immigrant produce peddler (Sports Illustrated)
- Left Chicago for Boyle Heights, then a poor Jewish enclave in East L.A. (SI)
- School: Graduated Cal State Los Angeles and Southwestern University School of Law (SI)
- Changed his last name to Sterling in his 20s because it “instilled confidence in people.” (Author Dave Zirin, KPCC interview)
- Practiced law in Boyle Heights, then Beverly Hills (SI)
- Real estate mogul who owns multiple apartment buildings in L.A. and Sterling Plaza
- Bought Clippers in 1981 for $12.7 million (ESPN)
- Net worth: $1.9 Billion and ranks No. 328 in United States, as of 2013. (Forbes)
What about those previous lawsuits?
- 2012: A Los Angeles jury ordered Sterling to pay $17.3 million in a lawsuit filed by an actress, Robyn Cohen, who lost most of her belongings in a fire at a West Hollywood apartment building Sterling owns. (Forbes)
- 2009: Sued by former Clippers general manager Elgin Baylor in L.A. Superior Court for wrongful termination and discrimination on the basis of age and race. Baylor later dropped the race accusation; jury ruled in Sterling's favor in 2011. (LAT)
- 2009: Paid a record $2.73 million to settle allegations by the government that he refused to rent apartments to Hispanics, blacks and families with children in L.A. (ESPN)
- 2005: Paid an undisclosed sum and nearly $5 million in attorney fees to settle an unrelated 2003 lawsuit that claimed he tried to drive non-Korean tenants out of apartments he bought in Koreatown. (ESPN)
- 2005: Jury decided in Sterling's favor in a suit in which former property manager, Sumner Davenport, claimed Sterling sexually harassed her and that Sterling's companies had racially prejudiced employment and housing practices. (ESPN)
Has he given a lot to charity?
- Southern California charities have routinely named Sterling as their Humanitarian of the Year — at least according to Sterling's self-promotional ads in the L.A. Times (SI)
- In the 2000s, Sterling announced plans to build a $50 million Donald T. Sterling Homeless Center in downtown L.A., which never came to pass. (L.A. Weekly)
- Sterling was slated to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP until this past weekend.
- During the 2008-09 season over 550 organizations received in excess of 80,000 tickets for local children and their families through the Donald T. Sterling Charity Seats Program. Sterling has donated over 280,000 tickets to more than 2,000 community groups over the last seven seasons. (NBA)
- Sterling was the driving force in the formation of the Los Angeles Clippers Foundation, which benefits numerous local charities, reports the NBA. During the 2006 off-season, Sterling spearheaded the creation of a series of free, day-long, Clippers summer basketball clinics to involve local youth. (NBA)
Related: See a rundown of NBA teams & owners public comments on Sterling
RELATED: Donald Sterling fallout: Sponsors flee the Clippers after alleged racist tirade
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