This is not the first time Worth Rises has targeted Tom Gores for his ownership of Securus Technologiesgetty images
An advocacy group "took out a full-page advertisement" in yesterday's N.Y. Times, calling on the NBA and its owners to force Pistons Owner TOM GORES to "sell his team because of his ownership of a prison telecom company," according to John Barr of ESPN.com. The advertisement read, "If Black Lives Matter, what are you doing about Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores?" The ad "refers readers to a website that says how Gores' ownership of Securus Technologies, which his Beverly Hills-based private equity firm Platinum Equity purchased in 2017, 'undermines (the NBA's) sincerity' about its stance on social and racial justice issues." Securus "helps to set the pricing for phone calls for jailed inmates in hundreds of counties nationwide, in some cases charging more than $14 for a 15-minute call." The Pistons declined to comment. Platinum Equity partner MARK BARNHILL said that Securus is "committed to shouldering 'the heavy lifting necessary to transform the company and the industry.'" In a statement to ESPN, an NBA spokesperson indicated that the league has been "in 'regular communication' with Gores regarding [criminal justice advocacy organization] Worth Rises' concerns, and pointed to the work Gores and his colleagues have done with nonprofits focused on prison reform." Barr noted this "isn't the first time" Worth Rises Founder & Exec Dir BIANCA TYLEK has "targeted Gores." In October, Gores "resigned from the board" of the L.A. County Museum of Art after Tylek "co-signed a letter criticizing his ownership of Securus" (ESPN.com, 12/20).
SALE SEEMS UNLIKELY: Gores has said that he "will not sell Securus until Platinum is finished with its changes at the company, which involve advancing its communications technology." In L.A., Laurence Darmiento notes a forced sale "could also lower the price any buyer might be willing to pay for the company, now a subsidiary of Aventiv Technologies after a corporate reorganization." It "would appear that Gores would be even less likely to want to part with the Pistons, whom he rooted for growing up in nearby Flint, Mich." Sports franchise owners have been "forced to unload teams, but that typically has involved financial troubles or questionable personal behavior, such as the racist remarks" made by former Clippers Owner DONALD STERLING and former Reds Owner MARGE SCHOTT. NBA bylaws "allow the league to revoke a team’s ownership under certain conditions by a three-fourths vote of owners" (L.A. TIMES, 12/21).
