 He lost $20 million in the 1998–99 season alone, as much money in one year as he had estimated he could have reasonably lost in five years.Williams sold the team for $115 million—$2 million less than he had paid for the team a year earlier—to Detroit Pistons owner William Davidson, who had almost bought the team a year earlier.Along with the sale, the Lightning acquired a new top minor league affiliate; Davidson also owned the Detroit Vipers of the now-defunct International Hockey League.