Steve Ballmer has won a bidding war to purchase the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion.

ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reports that Ballmer and the Sterling family trust signed a binding agreement on the sale and that it will go straight to the NBA for final approval. Shelburne also reported that Donald Sterling has been declared mentally incapacitated, which has left Shelly Sterling with the power to sell the team.

Ballmer, who was chief executive of Microsoft for 14 years, was chosen over competitors that included Los Angeles-based investors Tony Ressler and Bruce Karsh and a group that included David Geffen and executives from the Guggenheim Group, the Chicago-based owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to three individuals familiar with the negotiations.

One of the individuals with knowledge of the negotiations said the Geffen group bid $1.6 billion and Ressler at $1.2 billion.

The tentative deal must also receive the blessing of Donald Sterling, followed by an approve from the 29 other owners.