Bob Iger and Josh Kushner to buy Lakers in record $12.5 billion deal
The Los Angeles Lakers are changing hands again, and this time the price tag is historic. Bob Iger and Josh Kushner have agreed to buy
The Los Angeles Lakers are changing hands again, and this time the price tag is historic. Bob Iger and Josh Kushner have agreed to buy the franchise for $12.5 billion, a record valuation for an NBA team, according to multiple sources cited by ESPN.
The deal would come just 14 months after Mark Walter struck a record-setting agreement to take control of the Lakers at about $10 billion. Walter had been the team’s majority owner since last October, when the NBA approved his bid. Now he is selling on after a brief run at the helm.
A stunning pivot
Kushner and Iger were previously involved in the league’s expansion process in Las Vegas, before making what sources described as an aggressive move for the Lakers. The shift was abrupt. And expensive.
In a joint statement, the pair said they were “deeply honored” to become stewards of one of the world’s most iconic sports franchises. They said they respected the leadership and vision of Jerry and Jeanie Buss and promised a long-term commitment to build on that foundation, compete at the highest level, and serve the team, its fans and Los Angeles.
What Walter is giving up
Walter, the CEO and chair of TWG Global, has also held stakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chelsea and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks. He bought into the Lakers’ control last year after the Buss family’s long ownership came to an end.
The Lakers had been controlled by Jerry Buss or his children for more than four decades before Walter’s short-lived stewardship. Less than a year later, the franchise is on the move again.
A deal with wide reach
Kushner’s profile in sports ownership is already established: he holds a minority stake in the Miami Heat. He is also the younger brother of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, adding a political dimension to a transaction that will reverberate far beyond Los Angeles.
The Lakers are one of the NBA’s marquee franchises, with global reach that stretches well beyond basketball. This sale resets the league’s valuation record once again. And it does so fast.
No closing ceremony yet. No handover date has been announced. But the next stage is already clear: the NBA will now absorb another blockbuster ownership shift, with the Lakers set to test just how high the market can go.
