In a stunning development, the Los Angeles Lakers, long synonymous with the Buss family legacy, are undergoing a major ownership shift. Jeannie Buss sold the bigger stake to Mark Walter, CEO and chairman of TWG Global. The Buss family has led the Lakers for the past 46 years and is giving way to a new era of leadership for the iconic franchise.
It is important to remember that Mark Walters is on different teams, having a big participation in the Los Angeles Dodgers from the MLB, the Los Angeles Sparks from the WNBA, Chelsea from the Premier League, the F1 team Cadillac, and other sports teams.
Mark Walter acquired a 66% stake in the franchise, making him the owner of one of the most important teams in the NBA. However, he most striking aspect of the deal is its record-breaking $10 billion valuation, according to insider Shams Charania in a report.
The Buss family made the Los Angeles Lakers a winning franchise.
In 1979, Jerry Buss had a visionary idea; he bought from Jack Kent Cooke the Lakers franchise with the Los Angeles Kings from the NHL and the historic Forum of Inglewood for 67.5 million. His revolutionary vision was to transform the Lakers into more than just a basketball team; he aimed to build a global entertainment brand.
He modernized the team with a more business-oriented idea, having the media as an ally. Also, he had the fortune to have superstars in his team like Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Pau Gasol, or, in the present, LeBron James. The players responded, and in his time as owner of the Lakers, the team achieved 10 NBA Championships.
When Jerry died in 2013, the team passed into the hands of his children, where Jeanie appeared as the face and maximum figures of the gold and purple team.
Inside the deal: How Jeanie Buss benefits from Lakers ownership shift
Jeanie Buss, president of the Los Angeles Lakers, has finalized a multimillion-dollar deal involving one of the NBA’s most storied franchises. Seizing the moment after the team was recently valued at $7 billion, Buss capitalized on a lucrative opportunity amid rising franchise valuations driven by global expansion and escalating media rights deals.
The deal may also help ease long-standing tensions between Jeanie Buss and her siblings, who have clashed over control of the franchise since their father’s passing. However, it is important to clarify that Jeanie will stay as the president of the team, but her family will not have the majority of the stakes.
The agreement between Mark Walter and the Buss family represents a major milestone in the sports industry, becoming the largest franchise sale in history. The deal surpasses the previous record set by the Boston Celtics’ $6.1 billion sale in March 2025.
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