Holy $2b dome

This is what retirement looks like for former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, the eighth-richest person in the world: buying the Los Angeles Clippers and then building them the Intuit Dome, a spaceship of a stadium that opened yesterday in Inglewood after a decade of construction.

The 18,000-seat arena, which will host the 2028 Olympic basketball games, sports some serious tech:

• The jewel in its crown, the Halo Board, cost nearly $100 million. It’s a double-sided, 44,000-square-foot wraparound screen that hangs high above the court so fans in any seat can watch clear gameplay.
• There are 20 cashierless food spots with checkout via tap-to-pay or facial scan.
• Being the least demure fan in the house will be rewarded: Each cushioned seat has decibel meters that detect fan rowdiness, with the loudest receiving discounts on snacks and merchandise via the Clippers app. (Each seat also has a phone charger.)

Ballmer balled out. As Microsoft’s largest individual shareholder, Ballmer chose to finance this project himself (rare). He spared no expense on the fan experience: The seats boast the most legroom of any NBA stadium, high-altitude t-shirt cannons democratize merch opportunities for people in the nosebleeds, and the entire section behind one basket is reserved for Clippers diehards.