Wyc Grousbeck will no longer serve as lead governor of the Boston Celtics once the franchise’s $6.1 billion sale to billionaire investor Bill Chisholm closes, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania and Ramona Shelburne.
Chisholm will assume the governor title, while Grousbeck will keep his position as chief executive officer and move into an alternate governor role. When the sale was announced this spring, Grousbeck said he intended to retain control through the 2028 season, but that plan has changed.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps previously reported the transaction is structured as a two-part deal in which Chisholm will obtain at least 51 percent of the team once the NBA’s Board of Governors signs off. Charania and Shelburne added that approval could come within the next week.
Grousbeck and his father led an investor group that bought the Celtics in 2002 for $360 million. Boston captured championships in 2008 and 2024 during their tenure, executed the Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen trades, rebuilt after sending Garnett and Paul Pierce to Brooklyn, and drafted current stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The franchise’s 18 NBA titles trail only the New York Yankees (27) and Montreal Canadiens (24) among North American professional teams.
“I’ve had a couple of sit-downs with Brad and it’s been about aligning our goals and extending the window of this team. The plans that Wyc and Brad Stevens have laid out make perfect sense to me,” Chisholm said when the agreement was first announced.
Boston is reshaping its roster after Tatum ruptured his Achilles tendon during the 2025 playoffs and the club traded Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday. The Celtics cut payroll by sending Georges Niang and two future second-round picks to Utah for rookie RJ Luis Jr., trimming their salary figure from $540 million to $239 million since the 2025 draft, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks. The move placed the team $1.7 million above the first apron and $10.2 million below the second, created an $8.2 million trade exception, and reduced luxury-tax penalties by $34 million.
Boston later signed free-agent forward Chris Boucher to a one-year, $3.3 million contract and retained Brown, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard. The organization has reached six of the past nine Eastern Conference finals and hopes to re-enter title contention once Tatum returns.
Source: Basketball Insiders
