David Geffen's group of owners offered $1.6 billion for the Los Angeles Clippers.

Geffen saw Guggenheim Partners as his biggest threat and sought a partnership instead of bidding against them.

Guggenheim Partners wasn't committed to the process, but co-founder Mark Walter and President Todd Boehly entered a partnership with Geffen independently.

Those three men were joined by Laurence Jobs, widow of Steve Jobs, as equal partners.

A sizable but lesser stake would go to Nancy Walton Laurie, an heir to the Walmart fortune. Four others — Winfrey, Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Peter Morton, music impresario Jimmy Iovine and Elaine Wynn, ex-wife of casino czar Steve Wynn — agreed to buy in for $50 million apiece.