Former Hall of Fames Yao Ming has sold 40 percent of his shares in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) team Shanghai Sharks to 4 companies including CMC Holdings and Everbright Capital, according to a report by Shanghai Observer.

According to the report, it is still unclear whether Yao can sell the remaining 60% he owns before the kick-off of the 2017/18 CBA season since the current CBA president has to reach a consensus with the other 4 shareholders. 

Yao played for the Shanghai Sharks before he went on to play in the NBA in 2002 and bought the team in 2009 for about RMB 20 million. Chinese sports experts estimate that the basketball club is worth up to RMB 1 billion (nearly US $149m) as of now.

The resale is a result of the recent election of Yao Ming as CBA president, which means that the NBA Hall of Famer has to give up his ownership of the Shanghai-based team.

Source: btime

Proofread by William Logsdon