Bob Iger, Josh Kushner to buy Lakers for record $12 billion
The Sporting Tribune
Host · Writer
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers are changing hands again in a stunning deal that would set another record for the sale of a professional sports franchise.
American businessmen Josh Kushner and Bob Iger have agreed to purchase the Lakers from Mark Walter for more than $12 billion, according to multiple sources who spoke to ESPN. The blockbuster transaction comes less than a year after Walter took control of one of the most recognizable franchises in sports.
Kushner and Iger had previously been involved in the NBA's potential expansion into Las Vegas but pivoted from pursuing an expansion franchise to making an aggressive offer for the Lakers. The move gives them the opportunity to take control of an established global brand rather than wait for the NBA to formally move forward with expansion.
“As lifelong NBA fans, we are deeply honored for the opportunity to become stewards of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most iconic sports franchises in the world,” Kushner and Iger said in a statement to ESPN. “We have immense respect for the leadership and vision of Jerry and Jeanie Buss. Our long-term commitment is to build on that foundation, compete at the highest level, and serve this extraordinary team, its fans, and the city of Los Angeles.”
The agreement represents a remarkable increase in the Lakers' valuation in a relatively short period of time. Walter acquired the Buss family's controlling interest in the franchise last year in a transaction that valued the Lakers at approximately $10 billion. The NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved that sale in October 2025. The Buss family had controlled the franchise since Dr. Jerry Buss purchased it in 1979.
Walter's tenure as majority owner will therefore prove to be exceptionally brief if the latest transaction receives league approval.
“Owning the Los Angeles Lakers has been one of the great honors of my life — an extraordinary investment, but what I will carry with me is the community, the fans, and a city that treats this team as family,” Walter said in a statement to ESPN. “I am grateful to Jeanie Buss, the Buss family, the players, and the staff for welcoming me into this chapter. The Lakers belong to Los Angeles, and I have every confidence the best is still ahead.”
The deal would also further push the rapidly rising value of elite professional sports franchises. Walter's purchase at a $10 billion valuation was itself a record for the controlling sale of a U.S. professional sports team, surpassing the $6.1 billion sale of the Boston Celtics earlier in 2025 and the $6.05 billion sale of the Washington Commanders in 2023.
Now, less than a year later, the Lakers are poised to reset that record at more than $12 billion.
Walter, the CEO and chairman of diversified holding company TWG Global, has assembled one of the most expansive sports portfolios in the world. His holdings include interests in the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Sparks, Premier League club Chelsea and the Professional Women's Hockey League. Through TWG Motorsports, Walter also has interests in several auto racing teams, including Cadillac Formula 1.
The Lakers transaction will not affect Walter's ownership of the Dodgers, according to ESPN. He is selling only his interest in the Lakers and will retain control of the Dodgers as well as his other sports investments.
For Kushner and Iger, the purchase would put two prominent figures in business and entertainment at the head of one of the NBA's signature franchises. Kushner is the founder of venture capital firm Thrive Capital, while Iger is one of the entertainment industry's most recognizable executives after his lengthy tenure leading The Walt Disney Company.
The stunning agreement marks yet another chapter in an extraordinary period of change for a franchise that spent nearly five decades under the Buss family's control. After the Buss family relinquished its controlling interest to Walter last year, the Lakers are now poised to have their third controlling ownership structure in roughly a year.
And at more than $12 billion, the Lakers' latest sale reinforces just how valuable the franchise has become — not only as one of the NBA's premier teams, but as one of the most coveted properties in all of professional sports.
