The Buss family is reportedly entering an agreement to sell majority ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers to Mark Walter, the lead owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Jeanie Buss will continue to serve in her role as Governor after the sale for “at least a number of years.”
Walter, the CEO and chairman of diversified holding company TWG Global, is also an investor in the English Premier League club Chelsea FC. He has also been an investor in the Lakers since 2021 as part of a group that purchased a 27% stake in the team.
The Buss family has been in control of the Lakers since 1979, when Jerry Buss bought the Lakers from Jack Kent Cooke for $67.5 million, and the franchise passed to his children when he passed away in 2013.
Eventually, the family began clashing over control. An agreement was struck in 2017 calling for Jeanie Buss to serve as controlling owner, ending a battle that included her going to court after her brothers Jim and Johnny Buss called for a board meeting that she interpreted as a challenge to her power — shortly after she removed Jim Buss as the Lakers’ executive vice president of basketball operations.
Now the iconic, 17-time championship organization is entering an agreement to sell majority interest.
The Guggenheim Baseball Management group, led by Magic Johnson, Stan Kasten and Mark Walter introduced at a press conference in center field at Dodger Stadium after purchasing the team in 2012. (Photo by Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Walter’s purchase has a reported valuation of approximately $10 billion, the largest sale of a professional sports franchise in the world. In comparison, recent sales of NBA franchises include Mark Cuban selling his majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks for $3.5 billion and Wyc Grousbeck selling his majority stake in the Boston Celtics for $6.1 billion.
This change of hands could lead to the Lakers being more open to exceeding the NBA salary cap and paying luxury tax bills. Under Walter and his ownership group, the Dodgers have shown a willingness and an eagerness to spend gobs of money to acquire talent, leading to World Series victories in 2020 and 2024. The Lakers haven’t had that luxury under the control of the Buss family.
“Mark Walter is the best choice and will be the best caretaker of the Laker brand,” Lakers legend Magic Johnson, a business partner of Walter’s and someone extremely close to Jeanie Buss, posted on social media. “The proof is in the pudding on what he’s been able to accomplish with the LA Dodgers. Mark has been nothing short of a winner notching 2 World Series and 11 NL West divisional titles in the last 12 years!”
Johnson said he is certain Jeanie Buss made the deal only after being convinced that Walter would do right by the Lakers.
Walter is intensely private in shunning the spotlight. He’s CEO of the financial services firm, Guggenheim Partners, which is estimated to have more than $325 billion in assets. Johnson is among Guggenheim’s investors.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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