Billionaire Mark Walter’s sale of the NBA’s Lakers is a record-breaking valuation for a North American sports activities franchise.
Printed On 12 Aug 2026
Enterprise capitalist Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger are set to purchase the Los Angeles Lakers, with the deal valued at a file $12.5bn, in line with sources accustomed to the matter, on Wednesday.
Billionaire Mark Walter bought a majority stake within the NBA workforce final yr in a deal that valued the membership at $10bn, with the deal solely having been authorised by the board of governors in October.
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Walter’s monetary empire faces a federal probe, in line with reviews final month, analyzing hyperlinks between investments held by his insurers and associates. Walter can be the proprietor of Main League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers.
“As lifelong NBA followers, we’re deeply honored for the chance to develop into stewards of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the iconic sports activities franchises on the planet,” Iger and Kushner mentioned in a press release.
“We have now immense respect for the management and imaginative and prescient of [former Lakers owners] Jerry and Jeanie Buss. Our long-term dedication is to construct on that basis, compete on the highest degree, and serve this extraordinary workforce, its followers, and town of Los Angeles.”
The 2 businessmen had beforehand been tied to a possible NBA enlargement workforce in Las Vegas, however Wednesday’s information, which shocked followers and business specialists, seemingly ended that effort.
The deal requires sign-off from the board of governors. It’s also pending due diligence by Kushner’s Thrive Everlasting, a brand new funding technique launched by his enterprise capital agency Thrive Capital, a supply mentioned.
Magic praises Iger
“I need to congratulate my good pal Bob Iger and Josh Kushner on their buy of the Los Angeles Lakers!” Lakers nice Earvin “Magic” Johnson posted on social media.
“Laker followers, you couldn’t have two higher homeowners. I’ve identified Bob personally for over 40 years – he has at all times liked the Lakers and basketball and he’ll carry championships again to LA.”
As CEO of Disney, Iger oversaw sports activities community ESPN and constructed relationships with the NBA whereas the corporate entered into multibillion-dollar broadcast offers for video games. He retired from Disney in March.
Iger and his spouse, Willow Bay, beforehand acquired a controlling stake in Nationwide Girls’s Soccer League aspect Angel Metropolis FC.
On the court docket, the Lakers are in a interval of transition after the league’s all-time main scorer LeBron James left the workforce within the offseason to hitch the Philadelphia 76ers.
FIFA Fallout
The deal comes simply weeks after Kushner emerged as a central determine in a controversial personal fairness plan involving international soccer governing physique FIFA.
FIFA mentioned in July it deliberate to create a brand new industrial subsidiary, valued at about $20bn, to carry the organisation’s World Cup and different event-related companies and promote minority stakes to exterior traders.
Thrive Everlasting was anticipated to steer a gaggle of traders. The proposed transaction may have raised greater than $4bn for FIFA, with the proceeds meant partially to fund soccer improvement programmes across the world.
The proposal triggered an instantaneous backlash from European soccer officers and others who objected to non-public traders taking an possession stake within the industrial operations of the world’s hottest sport and threatened to develop into a check of FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s management.
FIFA later backed away from the plan after the criticism, although it mentioned it will proceed consulting on the proposed construction. Kushner’s brother, Jared, is US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. Jared Kushner was not concerned within the proposed deal.
