Skip to content
Penny Sanders Wiki – Penny Sanders Biography
Penny Sanders is the wife of Robert Sarver, is an American businessman, co-founder of Southwest Value Partners, a real estate development company, and owner of the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury, and RCD Mallorca. In 1984, Sarver founded the National Bank of Tucson (which he expanded throughout the state and changed the name to the National Bank of Arizona). In 1994, he sold the National Bank of Arizona, then the largest independent bank in the state, to Zions Bancorporation. In 1995, he acquired Grossmont Bank, one of the largest community banks in San Diego. Grossmont was also sold to Zions Bancorporation in 1997. In 1998, Sarver led the acquisition of Sumitomo Bank of California by Zions Bancorporation. In 2003, he became president of the Western Alliance Bancorporation.
In 1990, Sarver co-founded the real estate company Southwest Value Partners with Millard Seldin. In 1995, Southwest Value Partners purchased the Emerald Plaza in San Diego. In 2004, his jointly owned real estate firm, Southwest Value Partners, sold the Emerald Plaza and two other San Diego office buildings to the Santa Ana real estate firm, Triple Net Properties, for $ 274.5 million.
A lifelong sports fan, Sarver’s quest to buy an NBA team began with a conversation with University of Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson. Olson referred Sarver to Steve Kerr, a former Arizona player, and 15-year NBA veteran, to help him buy an NBA franchise. In 2004, he bought the Suns for a record $ 401 million. Since he acquired the team, Sarver has overseen massive organizational developments. In 2020, Sarver and the Suns collaborated with Verizon on a state-of-the-art 53,000-square-foot driving range called the Verizon 5G Performance Center. The $ 45 million facility uses 5G technology to combine computer-aided motion analysis, player and ball tracking, and shot tracking to provide accurate information to players and coaches. This revolutionary technology is being used by both the Suns and the WNBA Phoenix Mercury to push the limits of sports science.
Penny Sanders & Robert Sarver
Robert Sarver is married to Penny Sanders, a Missouri native. The pair met in 1991 and tied the knot on November 2, 1996. Sanders is also a businesswoman and moved to Phoenix after graduating college in 1990 to work with Prentice-Hall marketing textbooks to universities.
She reportedly has a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Oklahoma. Sarver and Sanders have three children, Max, Jake, and Zach Sarver, and reside in Paradise Valley, Arizona.
Robert Sarver accused of racism and misogyny in a damning report
Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver faced accusations of racism and misogyny Thursday after an ESPN report detailed claims of a toxic and hostile workplace during his 17-year tenure. Sarver issued a pre-emptive denial of the allegations last month, saying the then unpublished story was based on “lies, innuendo and a false narrative” designed to “attack our organization.”
The story, posted on ESPN’s website, grew out of interviews with more than 70 current and former Suns employees, most of them unidentified, who said Sarver repeatedly used racially insensitive language and detailed conduct deemed misogynistic and inappropriate.
“The level of misogyny and racism is beyond the limits,” an unidentified Suns co-owner told ESPN of Sarver. “He’s embarrassing as a landlord.” Sarver allegedly used a racial slur in a conversation with a black coach, discussed sex with his wife while showing a photo of her in a bikini, and asking a woman if she “owned” her when asked if she worked for the Suns.
ESPN said Sarver, through attorneys, denied using the racial slur more than once and stated, “The N word has never been part of my vocabulary.” The report said Sarver’s conduct contributed to a workplace culture that affected how other managers treated employees. Suns general manager James Jones and team president Jason Rowley defended Sarver to ESPN, Rowley saying the story was “completely outrageous and false” and that Sarver “is not racist or sexist.”
NBA spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN that the league has not “received a complaint of misconduct in the Suns organization,” while NBA players union executive director Michele Roberts told ESPN. told ESPN he was not aware of any player reports of the Suns’ misconduct. ESPN quoted an unidentified business department employee as saying, “If the commissioner came in and investigated (he) would be horrified.”
Several Suns staff members recalled that Sarver used racist language in conversations, ESPN reported, and also quoted Sarver as saying, “I don’t like diversity” when it came to organizing. Proven allegations of racist behavior or the use of racist language could have serious implications for any NBA team owner. In 2014, then-Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was fined $ 2.5 million and banned for life from the NBA after being taped with racist language. Later, the league forced the sale of the team to new owners.
Sarver, 59, bought the Suns in 2004 for $ 401 million. The franchise now has an estimated value of $ 1.55 billion. The Suns reached the NBA Finals last season, where they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, but an anonymous current executive told ESPN that despite the on-court success “the culture is lower than ever.”
Read Also: Who is Mary MacCarthy? Wiki, Biography, Age, Family, Daughter, Statement