THE GAME CHANGERW h e n S a c r a m e n t a n s f i r s t h e a r d V i ve k R a n a d i v é ’ s n a m e t h i s p a s t s p r i n g , i t w a s i n t h e c o n tex t o f a “ w h a l e ” — a n u l t r a - we a l t hy i nve s -to r w h o h a d t h e f i n a n c i a l m i g h t a n d e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l v i s i o n to w r e s t c o n t r o l o f t h e S a c r a m e n to K i n g s f r o m a p r e d a to r y g r o u p i n S e a t t l e t h a t i n c l u d e d o n e o f t h e wo r l d ’ s r i c h e s t m e n . A t t h e t i m e , i t s e e m e d a n i m p o s s i b l e t a s k . B u t w i t h a p o i n t g u a r d l i ke M ayo r Kev i n J o h n s o n ke e p i n g t h e b a l l i n p l ay, R a n a d i v é p r ev a i l e d , a n d i s n ow d e te r m i n e d to t r a n s f o r m t h e K i n g s a n d q u i te p o s s i b l y t h e N B A i t s e l f . T h i s i s t h e s to r y o f w h e r e h e c a m e f r o m , w h a t d r i ve s h i m , a n d w hy b a s ket b a l l —

a n d o u r c i t y — m ay n eve r b e t h e s a m e a g a i n .

B Y A N I T A C H A B R I A P H O T O G R A P H S B Y M A X W H I T T A K E R

SOLD TO THE FINErcarzo@gmail.com

O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 63

Just that evening, he had convinced the City Council to vote in fa-vor of funding for a new arena that would put $258 million in public

an important step to keeping the Kings, signaling that the city was

there was some trepidation,” he says, about the reality of getting a

his case to the council was that 86 miles away in Atherton, Ranadivé

dressed in the uniform of Silicon Valley success—starched shirt open at the collar, freshly pressed pants, loafers that look both casual

-looking a parking lot full of upscale hybrids, he has the intense and

Despite that toughness, Ranadivé is private to the point of being

-

-

-ing to personally guarantee you that this ownership group will do

Johnson knew that with Ranadivé in the lead role, the deal had the

time where two tough visionaries bonded for the common good, for

-tion happen, one that not only keeps a beloved team in its home city, but that promises to fundamentally alter the fate of the place

-brancy and potentially bringing worldwide interest, and invest-

-

SACRAMENTO   MAYOR   KEV IN   JOHNSON   WAS   WALK ING  ALONG  A  BLIGHTED  STRETCH  OF  K  STREET  AROUND  10  P.M.    ON   A   TUESDAY   I N   MARCH ,   JUST   AF T ER   A   TOUGH   C I TY  COUNCIL  MEET ING ,  WHEN  HE  GOT  A  CALL  THAT  HE  BEL IEVES  MARKED   A   “SEM INAL   MOMENT ”   FOR   THE   R IVER   C I TY.  I T   WAS   V IVEK   RANAD IVÉ ,   THE   56 -­YEAR -­OLD   S I L I CON  VAL L EY  MOGUL  WHO  HAD  ONLY  RECENT LY  GONE  PUBL IC  W I TH   H IS   I N T EREST   I N   BUY ING   A   MAJOR I TY   S TAKE  I N   THE   TOWN ’S   BE L EAGUERED   BASKETBAL L   T EAM .  JOHNSON   HAD   BEEN   S TREET   F I GHT ING   FOR   MONTHS  TO   KEEP   I T   I N   SACRAMENTO   AND   THWART   A   MOVE   TO  S EATT L E .  THE  “HERE  WE  S TAY”  CAMPA IGN  HAD  BECOME  A   DEF IN ING   PO INT   OF   H I S   L EGACY,   W IN   OR   LOSE .    

O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 364 65

Sacramento Kings and the oracle of down-town development is only the latest in a long

bootstraps saga of how he landed on the shores of America with $50 and a dream,

stock trading—a coup that eventually led to building a $1 billion company with a per-sonal stake reportedly valued at about $318 million (a portion of his net worth, which

-

ern-day David, published in a New Yorker article, with Ranadivé cast as the guy who successfully coached his then preteen

-

full of epic escapades and so free of trouble? Ask Ranadivé about the setbacks, the mo-

ments of trepidation, the hard times when worry and fear kept him awake, and while

not address them, he remains determinedly

charisma—it makes the people around him feel like if they follow, they will be part of the

will

Aneel has it tattooed on his wrist, a reminder from when he was a toddler and his dad

that was pounded into the elder Ranadivé by his grandmother—who was a prominent

-tests where her grandchildren would go toe-to-toe against each other—and his own fa-ther, an ex-military man known far and wide

-

ness and determination in Ranadivé, whom

trait—the inability to rest on an achieve-

friend Roger Craig, who is also vice presi-

when he jumped that hurdle to making his dream happen?

own company?

public, its stock price more than doubling

And when it comes to the Kings?-

tory,” he says under the bright lights of the

-

-

and he thought he knew everything, so he

-

more than 800—still with the coveted desig---

-ries is a different Ranadivé—one consis-tently described as resoundingly generous and loyal, a man as driven to do the right

-ing pieces are the reasons he has an almost cultlike devotion from friends and employ-ees who believe he has a higher mission than

he can make the world a better place every

sometimes 10 miles, talking about how to

pocket and clothes too light for New Eng-

-

servants and drivers and a private school favored by international diplomats—one his family helped to found, and that gave out a

his days planning pranks and building model airplanes, whose propellers were fu-

-ber bands to this day, saving them from his

drawer until his housekeeper tosses them

apart watches and transistor radios,” he

book, he balanced a trash can on top of a

alarm clock to the family phone, setting it off if his sister Smita went longer than three

An accomplished athlete, he played cricket and soccer on the beach, a miles-long stretch where the Arabian Sea laps gently on the sand and sunsets draw thousands of specta-

that the mention of it moves him to recite -

his sister Smita Deshpande, who now lives

-

outdoorsman who rode horses, hunted big game (he taught Ranadivé to be an expert

He  lives  for  the  fight,  for  the  forward  mo-­mentum,  and  he’s  not  just  hungry  for  it,  “he’s  starving,”  says  ex-­NFL  star  and  close  friend  Roger  Craig.  

Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé leads a group of employees in a cheer at Sleep Train Arena.

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O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 366

considered one of the most dangerous mis--

-fore ultimately crossing into China at 15,000

-

Shortly before Ranadivé came to Ameri-ca, the Captain got in a public dispute with

been an independent country for less than

poor safety record, was a source of national pride and grounding its new planes was not

liberties, shutting down some newspapers and triggering the arrests of thousands of

-

-

Ranadivé remembers waking up and see-

a long-lasting impact on our lives,” says Desh-pande, the emotion of the memory catching

was a very stressful period,” recalls Desh-

--

termined to go, although he never fully dis-

of coming to America ever since listening to

-

these people that were able to take a man, put him in a box and send him 250,000

its currency, the rupee, to be converted into

ongoing legal and political battles, made it

-

convinced him to convert the cash for one semester of tuition, room and board, with

the matriarch of the family, and a woman of deep and loud convictions whom Desh-

-lieved that Ranadivés had an obligation to

family is Kshatriya—born to be warriors

-

stand and to do something when you know

this was one of the principles my grand-

-

reminded Ranadivé not to abandon the old one, to hold on to this centuries-old legacy of standing for something larger than him-

electrical engineering in four years, an ac-complishment that would normally take

-sembly line worker take the trash from his lunch, throw it inside the open panel of a

-

So, based on a tip from a former class-

-

to Qualcomm, the wireless technology gi-

-

Addicott, on a blind date and married her

had deferred it in order to earn enough --

-ished his degree, Ranadivé took a product

returned to California to an apartment in

was unable to see a photo of the baby, but she had knitted a blanket for her grandson

was very close to her, so it was a big deal for me,” he says of her death, describing

-

a hardware engineer, he understood that -

-

piece of information that one generated,

put that information someplace else, it had

-cations talk to each other?

-tem that would run all the core functions of

programs could then all communicate and

--

-puter system that his investors were consid-

desks cluttered with monitors and cords, struggling to combine information from doz-

money, he saw waste—and the perfect situa-

the top executives of the company (later sec-

impressed that he invited Ranadivé to pitch his partners on his idea to streamline data

the elevator to the top of the building and they had this room, which was very fancy,

guys would sit down and have breakfast,”

--

ing, and all of the sudden the door opened

-

The  Ranadivés  had  an  obligation  to  fight  for  social  

justice  because  of  their  caste  (the  Hindu  designation  of  social  rank).  The  family  is  Kshatriya—born  to  be  warriors  and  rulers.   It   is    

the  caste  of  kings.  

Ranadivé with his beloved grandmother, Tara, in Mumbai in 1975. This photograph was taken on their way to the airport, where Ranadivé boarded a plane to Boston to attend MIT.

Ranadivé with his three children, (from left) Aneel, Andre and Anjali in Maui, where the family has a residence, this past summer

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O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 69

days or weeks to analyze and put togeth-

transformative change for companies like

-

employees and $8 million in annual rev--

uters, decided it would make a good take-

Ranadivé leading it as an independent sub-

at a steep cost—his big idea now belonged

new corporate bosses for four more years,

-

dinner at his home one night, he convinced the chairman of Reuters to let him split off

-nology and focusing on businesses outside

found that you get to do what you want

says Aneel, the eldest of the three Ranadivé kids, who was a teenager when his parents

was on the far side of being a free spirit and my dad was on the opposite side of just kind of trying to be really focused and have

Ranadivé remained involved with his -

eel, who played multiple sports growing up,

of him helping me drill, playing tennis, go-

dad would constantly be pushing me to

with Chris,” she says with unadulterated -

for his arrest after assaulting his girlfriend,

-sioner David Stern had given her at the

star, Anjali has long dark hair, dark eyes and

an honest, youthful spirit that seems like it

with her roommate/manager Chelsea, who, Anjali says, is really good at talking her way

-

the rays of wrinkles around his eyes that

leans back in his chair and intertwines his

-

-

High School Musical. -

-

-ing the penguin cages than spending the

Ranadivé has raised his kids with the same sense of intense purpose that was instilled in

-

whether they know it or not, Ranadivé has passed on to them his warrior-prince princi-

when he needs to be tough, but he can also

So it is likely Anjali will be a doctor long -

ing at Kings games—perhaps even at the

-

wrote about for The New Yorker

--

self in front of his little girl, but he really

he was going to coach them, then that

turned over, everyone ran to the other

on every inch of the hardwood—a full-

-

-ernors, comprised of all 30 team owners,

-mento, Ranadivé hosted a gathering at his home with several of his future co-owners and friends that, by several accounts, re-

had a little three-point contest,” says Andy

-

committee (recently, he was taking sugges-

Ranadivé has an indoor half-court in the basement that occasionally doubles as a

Ranadivé downplays any suggestion of

his team by a 22-8 vote, as at least some of

adding that when the Seattle group in-

asked for and we had a very compelling

why it was great for Seattle and why Sac-

And at least one key observer in the meet-

to make representations on behalf of the franchise to meet this obligation or meet

was the person who in effect stood up, if not -

sibility for providing the answers that the

owners, Ranadivé spotted venture capital-

-ing personal, but if it comes up that we win this, then you have my commitment

--

-

(A few months later, however, after vow-

K Street call to KJ was the mythical mo-

Ranadivé:  “David  Stern  and  I  joked,  one  day  we’ll  write  an  op-­era  about  it—From  Maloofs  to  Mumbai.  His  title,  not  mine.”

Ranadivé with Kings advisor and former NBA star Chris Mullin (left) and team GM Pete D’Alessandro at Sleep Train Arena

Ranadivé at his Atherton home with Shaq and Kings minority owner Mark Mastrov

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O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 370 71

ment that he became a contender, the truth is Ranadivé had been making a play for the Kings for some time—keeping it on the

talking about it probably a year before any--

-ing to people and trying to put a group to-gether and talking with the mayor and just getting things organized with the hopes that

Roger Craig also remembers it as going

that out there a year and a half ago,” he

it was public,” but says that as mayor, when

it came to talking to potential buyers, he had

Ranadivé was cautious about playing his

heard so much about him, but not by name

while, but we all sort of respected the pri-

the only person that knows the whole story is -

son who is responsible for the team staying here and for us building a new arena, and us

the start of what could be his greatest leg-

-tails off his coaching experience with his daughter—having the courage and vision to innovate, break molds and champion the underdog—and involves entitled bil-lionaires, worldwide expansion of an all-American sport, and the potential to re-

-

From Maloofs to Mumbai.

the best maintained structure on the aging

at least wants some grass to make it look bet-

with dark leather chairs and nondescript

are canvas prints of photos from the down-town Kings rally—Ranadivé (who had the

-

make it a place where hard work at every -

them from a team where most players were hoping for a trade to one with the pride to

only two father-son head-coaching teams in the history of the league (the other is

-

the grain of sand that works its way into

by building a pearl around it, the way he wants his people to react to his relentless

-thing of beauty and value, it takes an ir-

you step back and look at it in a completely

And Ranadivé is doing things differ-

-

other teams were courting him, so why

-

--

munications director is Red, one of his execu-

-

-

and a half, he completely blew me away,”

-

A good part of what Ranadivé hopes to

-

Ranadivé:  “If  there  is  one  person  who  is  responsible  for  the  team  staying  here  and  for  us  building  a  new  arena,  and  us  building  a  global  

franchise,  it’s  Mayor  Kevin  Johnson.”  

Ranadivé and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson are all smiles in Cesar Chavez Plaza on May 23 at a rally that celebrated the NBA’s decision to keep the Kings in Sacramento.

O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 73

plus population would love basketball enough to watch, get the apps and con-

understands that there are 300 million--

-

be a huge force in helping us to develop

by nestling fans in little cyber-cocoons of joy,

Vote for your favorite player and

win! Ranadivé will accomplish this by captur-ing data about every person that touches the organization, regardless of if they are court-

are no parking spots left or that the snack bar

analytics, the reason he has been dubbed -

-

to give you something that makes you hap-

Moneyball on steroids,” referenc-

of things like what combinations of players

there are a lot of great insights you can get

-rience of the sport for the younger genera-

the ability to create these instant feedback

for the Kings—a record valuation for an Wash-

ington Post

Ranadivé does not yet know what the arena

-

of building you look upon with wonder, the

-

a futuristic disc-shaped building jutting out onto the bay, as well as other sports facili-

-

Steve Jobs wanted ideas, he went to David -

And he wants to be part of Sacramento—

-

And he believes in this so implicitly,” says

in the underdog, believing in the diamond in the rough and then doing something to

--

town lots have already taken off, with en-terprising developers betting millions that

right when he said that winning the team was just the start—victory celebrations are

-

win this year or even next, will get there

on all this at once because he understands

of retrospect, this myth is being built in real

-

Ranadivé  does  not  yet  know  what  the  arena  will  look  like,  but  …  [it  will  be]  the  kind  of  building  you  look  upon  with  wonder,  the  kind  you  tell    people  you  saw.  An  icon  like  San  Fran-­

cisco’s  Transamerica  building  or  the  Sydney  

Opera  House.  

Ranadivé addresses the crowd at the Kings’ celebra-tory rally in May. Below: A fan at the event shows a sign of appreciation.