Joe Lacob is listed as controlling owner of the Golden State Valkyries (Joe Lacob and Peter Guber), per League release.
Ownership timeline
| Date | Event | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 5, 2023 | Expansion admission fee announced | — → Golden State Warriors ownership. $50M (reported (league release does not state the fee)). | League release |
| October 5, 2023 | Price on record | $50M: reported (league release does not state the fee). expansion admission fee; reported as paid over time | Sportico report |
| October 5, 2023 | Ownership role on record | principal; stake not disclosed. | League release |
| 2025-02 | Facility opened | Valkyries Performance Center | Team release |
| May 1, 2026 | Sportico valuation estimate | $850M (publisher estimate, not a price) | Sportico report |
| May 4, 2026 | CNBC valuation estimate | $1B (publisher estimate, not a price) | CNBC report |
New from FCB: 6 dated, sourced events compiled from FCB's ledger into one timeline. Permalink: https://fullcourtbuckets.com/wnba/owners/joe-lacob/#timeline
Price paid vs. later estimates
| Deal | Price on record | Price in 2026 $ | Publisher estimate | Estimate ÷ 2026-$ price (FCB calculation) | Years after deal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 expansion admission fee | $50M (reported (league release does not state the fee)) Sportico report | $54.5M | Sportico $850M (May 1, 2026) Sportico estimate report | 15.6× | 3 |
| 2023 expansion admission fee | $50M (reported (league release does not state the fee)) Sportico report | $54.5M | CNBC $1B (May 4, 2026) CNBC estimate report | 18.3× | 3 |
FCB calculation: a publisher's estimate divided by the inflation-adjusted price on record (BLS CPI-U, as in the main dataset). It compares two published numbers; it is not a realized return, and estimates are not sale prices.
Stake and roles compared
Joe LacobStake: not disclosed. No investor at any of the 15 active teams has a disclosed stake in FCB's register. Team governor: not yet sourced (1 of 15 governors sourced). NBA relationship: Shared control (Warriors).
Sources
- https://valkyries.wnba.com/news/valkyries-unveil-world-class-performance-center-20250205 · archive.org lookup
- https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/04/1-golden-state-valkyries.html · archive.org lookup
- https://www.sportico.com/valuations/teams/2026/wnba-team-values-2026-valkyries-liberty-fever-1234891620/ · archive.org lookup
- https://www.wnba.com/news/bay-area-expansion-team-2025 · archive.org lookup
Photo: Joe Lacob White House 2023.jpg by The White House, Public domain; cropped by FCB.
Full dataset, methods and corrections: WNBA team owners 2026. Corrections: ryan@fullcourtbuckets.com. License: FCB data and text are free to use and republish (CC0); photos and linked documents keep their own licenses.
How this story was made: Full Court Buckets articles are written by Ryan Moalemi, sometimes with AI assistance, and every stat is checked against official WNBA box scores and the sources cited in the story. How we make Full Court Buckets