In a stunning move, the Buss family has agreed to sell a majority of the Los Angeles Lakers to TWG Global CEO Mark Walter in a deal that values the team at $10 billion.
ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania, who broke the news, reports that Jeanie Buss will continue to serve as governor of the team after the sale. The governor serves as the representative for the team on the NBA’s league of governors.
Walter also owns significant stakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers MLB team, the Sparks WNBA team, and Cadillac’s F1 team, among other assets. The $10 billion value is a record for an NBA team (the Boston Celtics sold earlier this year for more than $6 billion), and substantially above what most private estimates valued the team at.
Walter is the primary owner and chairman of the Dodgers, which he acquired for $2.2 billion in 2012. A finance executive and investor, he is also the co-founder of Guggenheim Partners.
The Lakers are among the most famous and iconic NBA teams, with current stars like LeBron James and Luka Doncic, and legends like Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and (former Hollywood Reporter contributor) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The Buss family has owned the team since 1979, when Jerry Buss purchased the Lakers for $67.5 million. Buss passed away in 2013.
The sale also comes a couple of years after Shark Tank mogul Mark Cuban sold a controlling stake in the Dallas Mavericks to the Adelson family, in a similarly surprising deal. The sales underscore the value of sports, with the NBA’s new TV rights deals likely locking in lucrative media revenue for the next decade.
