The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly changing hands again, and this time the price tag is rewriting the record books.
Venture capitalist Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger are leading a group purchasing the Lakers for $12.5 billion, less than a year after Mark Walter acquired controlling interest from the Buss family for $10 billion.
Kushner and Iger had been pursuing an NBA expansion franchise in Las Vegas before turning their attention toward one of basketball’s crown jewels. Their group reportedly approached Walter with an unsolicited “offer he couldn’t refuse.”
The math is staggering. Walter’s $10 billion acquisition would become a $12.5 billion sale just 14 months later, representing a $2.5 billion increase in value. At that price, the Lakers transaction would become the largest sale of a professional sports franchise ever.
Kushner brings major investment muscle as the founder of Thrive Capital and already holds a minority stake in the Miami Heat. Iger arrives with decades of entertainment experience from Disney along with his ownership position in Angel City FC.
Walter, also the majority owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and CEO of Guggenheim Partners, is currently facing separate federal scrutiny from the SEC and U.S. Attorney’s Office involving unrelated insurance and financial ventures.
Nothing becomes official until the NBA Board of Governors approves the transaction.
For Lakers fans wondering what another ownership shakeup means on the court, Luka Dončić has already publicly reaffirmed his commitment to chasing a championship in Los Angeles while expressing enthusiasm about meeting the incoming ownership group.
For $12.5 billion, the Lakers are entering another era, and doing it at a valuation professional sports has never seen before.