Lakers sold for record-breaking $12.5 billion: Josh Kushner, Bob Iger buying NBA franchise from Mark Walter
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Josh Kushner and Bob Iger are buying the Los Angeles Lakers from Mark Walter for $12.5 billion, a record price that comes roughly 14 months after Walter's $10 billion purchase in June 2025.
- Kushner and Iger had been exploring an expansion franchise in Las Vegas before pivoting to take control of the Lakers; Iger is the former CEO of Disney, and Kushner is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law.
- Kushner was previously a minority owner of the Memphis Grizzlies and bought less than a 5% stake in the Miami Heat last year, while his wife, supermodel Karlie Kloss, holds a limited partnership stake in the WNBA's New York Liberty.
- The Buss family owned the Lakers from 1979, when Dr. Jerry Buss purchased the team from Jack Kent Cooke, building it into a franchise with 17 championships — 12 in Los Angeles — second only to the Boston Celtics' 18.
- LeBron James left the Lakers in free agency to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, turning the team over to Luka Dončić, who will be joined by Austin Reaves and newly acquired big man Walker Kessler as the Lakers try to climb back into title contention.
- Walter, CEO of Guggenheim Partners, retains the Dodgers, the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, and the entire PWHL; federal prosecutors in Manhattan are examining Guggenheim's $362 billion money management arm over how Walter and Guggenheim disclosed billions of dollars of loans.
- The Lakers currently have +2500 odds to win the Western Conference (per FanDuel) and have won only three playoff series, advancing past the second round once, since their 2020 championship.
Why it matters: The $12.5 billion price — a 25% jump over Walter's $10 billion purchase just 14 months ago — reframes the Lakers as the priciest franchise in sports history and illustrates how rapidly NBA valuations have inflated. The Guggenheim probe into Walter's loans runs alongside the sale, meaning the new owners (Kushner and Iger) inherit a team whose seller is navigating federal scrutiny.
Ask SkimNews
