Restaurateur Tilman Fertitta Drops $2.2 Billion on the Houston Rockets

After announcing plans to buy the team back in July, Houston restaurateur Tilman Fertitta has reportedly reached a deal to buy the Houston Rockets.

The news came early this morning when Houston Chronicle Rockets beat reporter Jonathan Feigen tweeted that current Rockets owner Leslie Alexander and Fertitta had settled on a price — more than $2 billion — for the purchase of the team. The final price tag for the Rockets was somewhere around $2.2 billion, according to Bloomberg reporter Scott Soshnick. A press release from the Rockets confirms the sale, but does not release the final number paid by Fertitta.

This is Fertitta’s second attempt to buy the Rockets since 1983, when the restaurateur offered up $81 million to buy the team. It was eventually sold to Leslie Alexander for $85 million. “It's one of Houston's four major teams. It would be exciting. This is my home,” Fertitta told KRIV-TV when news of his interest broke in July. “I've looked at other teams, but it's hard to be involved with another team when Houston is your home."

Fertitta, who owns the Landry’s chain of seafood restaurants along with Morton’s The Steakhouse, multiple Golden Nugget casinos, and Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, has a net worth that hovers around $3.1 billion. More details on his purchase of the Houston Rockets are forthcoming — stay tuned for updates.

• Restaurateur Tilman Fertitta Wants to Buy the Houston Rockets [EHOU]