This was in the Business Journal:

Paul Allen this week sold 28.5 million shares of bankrupt Charter Communications.

Multichannel News calculates that the Microsoft co-founder and Portland Trail Blazers owner will make just $996.36 on the sale.

The filing indicates that Allen sold 28,467,421 of Class A Common Shares in the St. Louis cable company. The type A shares represent a small part of Allen’s overall ownership stake. Allen has reportedly invested $7 billion in the company.

Can you imagine how much money the man lost on 28.5 million shares of that stock? He recently reached an agreement to sell his Rose City Radio (KXL and 95.5 The Game), too. It has been reported he paid upwards of $50 million for those properties and sold them for about $11 million.

I don’t see how this bodes well for his future ownership of the Trail Blazers. There is heavy duty belt tightening going on with his companies right now and it’s surely going to bleed into his basketball operation even more than it already has.

(Thanks to Blazers Edge for the tip)

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Ben Golliver at Blazers Edge has a great piece this morning about the Trail Blazer owner’s financial situation. He’s liquidated his Dreamworks stock, Charter is still having trouble and he’s apparently laid off some people at Vulcan.

It’s a must read. But I do think the man probably still has no worries about paying for his next bag of courtside popcorn.

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