Earnest Partners oversees more than $40 billion for municipalities, states, corporations, endowments and universities and has an office in China. SS&E did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the size of Viera's stake and investment in the franchise, which Forbes values at $2 billion.
The Spurs organization is working to diversify from the team's traditional base of mostly local investors, a structure the late auto dealership magnate B.J."Red" McCombs and stockbroker Angelo Drossos set up when they leased the team and moved it from Dallas to San Antonio in 1973. The group they led later bought the team.
SS&E's effort is aimed at simplifying decision-making and infusing new capital as the organization tries to expand its fan base in Austin and Mexico and buildsplaying more games in Austin and internationally