Who is David Blitzer? The American billionaire behind the consortium that bought IPL Champions RCB

Virat Kohli's RCB has new set of owners as a consortium led by the Aditya Birla Group (ABG) on Tuesday emerged the lead bidder to acquire IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru for a whopping USD 1.78 billion. United Spirits Ltd (USL) has announced the sale of the IPL franchise to the consortium of Aditya Birla Group, The Times of India Group, Bolt Ventures and Blackstone. Parties involved in the group are -- Blackstone, an equity firm of which Viral Patel is the CEO, Bolt Ventures, owned by American investor David Blitzer, and Satyan Gajwani's media conglomerate Times of India. Royal Challengers Bengaluru are last year's Indian Premier League champions.

The United Spirits Limited is a subsidiary of UK-Diageo, and they were keen to move away from RCB as the team was not central to their business plans. As per the sale agreement, Aryaman Vikram Birla, ABG’s director, will be the chairman of RCB while Satyan Gajwani of Times of India will be his deputy, as per reports.

Who is David Blitzer?

U.S.-based David Blitzer is a co-founder of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and an executive at asset manager Blackstone Group.

According to Forbes, David Blitzer has a real time net worth (as of March 24, 2026) is estimated at $4 billion. He ranks #1021 in the world today.

A stake in the IPL further diversifies Blitzer's global sports portfolio, which ​includes stakes in the major North American professional sports leagues. His holdings include the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL's New Jersey Devils. He also has stakes in NFL's Washington Commanders, MLB's Cleveland Guardians, MLS' Real Salt Lake.

Blitzer was one of the prominent students of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

IPL Valuation

The ​growing interest in IPL ​franchises is driven by rising team revenues and the Twenty20 league's record valuation, which investment bank Houlihan Lokey ⁠put at $18.5 billion last year.

The India arm of UK-based drinks giant Diageo launched a strategic review of its 100% holding of the Bengaluru franchise in November, labeling the team "non-core" to its primary alcohol business.