NBA Legend Dwyane Wade Joins Utah Jazz
Ownership Group
Wade joins NBA’s youngest ownership group, led by Qualtrics Founder Ryan
Smith
SALT LAKE CITY (April 16, 2021) — The Utah Jazz announced that Dwyane Wade, 13-time
NBA All-Star and three-time NBA champion, will join its ownership group. The ownership
group is the youngest in the NBA and is led by technology entrepreneur and Qualtrics
founder Ryan Smith and his wife Ashley who acquired a majority interest in the Utah Jazz in
late 2020. The small ownership group has previously consisted of tech leaders, including
legendary investor and Accel partner Ryan Sweeney, and Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-
Brookes in addition to the Miller family. Today they announced the addition of Wade.
“Dwyane is not only a basketball legend, he is also a great leader, businessman, and human
being,” said Ryan Smith, NBA governor of the Utah Jazz. “As we continue to build on the
incredible legacy of the Utah Jazz franchise, we are excited to add Dwyane’s experience and
expertise to the equation. Utah is an amazing place and I couldn’t be more thrilled about the
future of the franchise and the future of this state. Dwyane’s influence will be important to
both.”
Smith and Wade have known each other for several years and have engaged in numerous
conversations about working together in various business and investment capacities. Shortly
after Smith acquired the Utah Jazz, he and Wade began conversations about Wade joining
the Utah Jazz ownership group and Smith Entertainment Group (SEG), the first of many joint
business ventures.
“Partnering with Ryan and the Utah Jazz is the perfect fit as we share the same vision and
values,” said Dwyane Wade. “Not only is this group focused on building a championship
franchise, they are also committed to using their platform to do good and actively create a
more inclusive, equitable world. We share a lot of the same goals and are trying to go the
same places in life. As a businessman, entrepreneur, and investor, I bring a lot to this
partnership outside of my basketball experience. I’m excited to help take the Utah Jazz to
the next level. I am always looking for new opportunities to grow and challenge myself. I’ve
always done things my own way and this is the next step in my journey. As a kid from the
south side of Chicago, this partnership goes beyond my wildest dreams of playing
basketball, and I hope to inspire the next generation of dreamers.”
Terms of the transaction are not disclosed.
—utahjazz.com—
About Dwyane Wade
Dwyane Wade played in the NBA from 2003 to 2019, primarily for the Miami Heat. He was selected as an NBA
All-Star thirteen times, won three NBA championships, and was named the 2006 NBA Finals Most Valuable
Player. He is the Heat’s all-time leader in points, games, assists, and steals and the NBA’s all-time leader for
blocks by a guard. Wade’s partnerships include Li-Ning, Hisense, MISSION, Budweiser, BallerTV, Wade Cellars,
Mars Reel, Spades Royale, and 800° Woodfired Kitchen. Through his partnership with WarnerMedia, he serves
as a regular analyst for TNT’s Tuesday night NBA studio coverage and is a creative director for Bleacher Report.
He is a board of trustee member for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Founder of 59th & Prairie
Entertainment, he is an executive producer of D. Wade: Life Unexpected, the Sports Emmy–nominated
documentary Shot in the Dark, the Oscar-winning animated short Hair Love, and the upcoming docuseries
Legacy. Wade will executive produce and host the award-winning British game show reboot of The Cube, which
will premiere in the US in 2021. He is the New York Times bestselling author of A Father First and cofounded
the Social Change Fund to invest in and support organizations focused on empowering communities of color
and advocating for the human rights of all Black lives.
About Ryan Smith
Ryan Smith is the founder of Qualtrics, the world’s leading experience management company. Qualtrics was
acquired by SAP in January 2019 for $8B in the largest private enterprise software acquisition of all time. In
2021, Qualtrics went public on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol XM. Qualtrics is the first company ever to
develop a platform to combine customer, employee, product, and brand experience in a single system of
action. In 2016, Ryan co-founded “5 For The Fight,” the campaign to eradicate cancer by supporting
groundbreaking cancer research. The organization has raised more than $25 million in three years. Ryan was
named to Fortune’s “40 Under 40” and one of Forbes’ “America’s Most Promising CEOs Under 35.”
About the Utah Jazz
Founded as the 18th member of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1974, and located in Salt Lake
City since 1979, the Utah Jazz are committed to excellence as a team and in the community. On the court, the
Jazz are the second-winningest team in the NBA over the last 30 years, having won nine division titles and two
Western Conference championships along with 16 seasons of 50-plus wins, and are supported by one of the
most passionate fan bases in all of sports. Away from the court, the Jazz are very active in the local community
and have assisted a multitude of organizations and worthy causes by way of charitable donations, service and
grants. Since assuming the role of NBA governor, Ryan and Ashley Smith and the Utah Jazz have launched
several key initiatives including the Utah Jazz Scholarship, offering underrepresented minorities a full cost of
attendance scholarship (tuition, fees, room and board, etc.) for every win the Utah Jazz have this season, and
support of the national expansion of Encircle, which provides community resource houses for LGBTQ+ youth
and their families. The Utah Jazz also operate the Junior Jazz program, the largest and longest-running youth
basketball league in the NBA, featuring more than 60,000 players and an additional 13,000 volunteers who
take part annually across seven states. For more information on the Utah Jazz, visit www.utahjazz.com.
Media Contacts:
For Dwyane Wade:
Amy Jacobs
Rubenstein
[email protected]
Alexis Reynolds
Rubenstein
[email protected]
For the Utah Jazz:
Frank Zang
[email protected]
