Bill Chishom, managing partner of Symphony Technology Group, has agreed to purchase the Boston Celtics at a $6.1 billion valuation. This is the richest purchase price for a North American sports team.

Chisholm grew up on the North Shore of Massachusetts and is a lifelong Celtics fan. Forbes estimated Chisholm to have a net worth of $7.5 billion.

The Grousbeck family, led by Wyc Grousbeck, purchased the Celtics for $360 million in 2002. They put the team up for sale this summer, shortly after the Celtics captured their record 18th NBA title.

The Celtics face questions for their new ownership group in the coming years. Boston is set to have the largest payroll, plus tax bill, in the NBA next season. The Celtics are looking at coming at over $500 million for salaries plus tax penalties. There are also questions about the team's arena situation, as the Celtics currently share TD Garden with the Boston Bruins.

The $6.1 billion valuation is also important for the NBA as a whole. Adam Silver has said that the league is looking at expansion, but the NBA was slow-playing that process. Part of the reason for that was assumed to be hoping the Celtics sale would set a benchmark for expansion teams. Now, the NBA can condifently expect to receive large bids when they do open formally open the expansion process.