The Lakers Just Sold Twice in 14 Months
The Los Angeles Lakers are being sold to former Disney chief executive Bob Iger and investor Josh Kushner at a valuation of $12.5 billion, ESPN reported Wednesday. It is the highest price ever attached to a North American sports franchise.
The seller is Mark Walter, who has held majority control of the team since last October.
“As lifelong NBA fans, we are deeply honored for the opportunity to become stewards,” Iger and Kushner said in a statement to ESPN. They said their commitment is long term.
The shortest record-setting ownership in sports
The Buss family agreed in June 2025 to sell its controlling interest to Walter at a $10 billion valuation, then the largest figure ever paid for a professional sports team. The NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved that sale on October 30, 2025, closing out 46 years of Buss family majority ownership. Jeanie Buss stayed on as team governor under terms reported to run at least five years.
Ten months later Walter is out, $2.5 billion ahead of where he started.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported that Iger and Kushner had been chasing an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas. As that price climbed, they called Walter on a Sunday instead. Walter was not looking to sell. The deal was public by Wednesday.
Who is buying
Kushner, 41, founded the venture firm Thrive Capital and co-founded the insurer Oscar Health. He is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump. He holds a minority stake in the Miami Heat that he will have to give up to complete the purchase.
Iger, 75, ran Disney from 2005 to 2020 and again from 2022 until earlier this year, when Josh D’Amaro took over. He and his wife Willow Bay bought the National Women’s Soccer League club Angel City FC in 2024.
What Walter keeps
The sale covers Walter’s Lakers stake only. His TWG Global holding company still controls the Los Angeles Dodgers, a stake in Chelsea, the Cadillac Formula One team, and the Billie Jean King Cup.
He is also under federal scrutiny. The pasted wire copy describes an investigation into possible tax fraud tied to his insurance businesses. CNBC, citing Bloomberg reporting from last month, describes it as an SEC and federal prosecutors inquiry into potential financial improprieties at two of his insurers and at Guggenheim Partners, the firm he co-founded and still leads. The two descriptions are not identical and DailyFRQ is not resolving them here.
In his statement, Walter called owning the Lakers one of the great honors of his life and said the team belongs to Los Angeles.
The team changing hands
The Lakers have won 17 championships, second only to Boston. The roster that Iger and Kushner are buying is not the one Walter bought. LeBron James left in free agency in July after eight seasons in Los Angeles and signed with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Luka Doncic leads the team now. He averaged 33.5 points per game last season, the highest mark in the league, and the Lakers finished 53 and 29 as the fourth seed in the West. Doncic responded to the sale by saying he is excited to get back on the court. Magic Johnson, who has known Iger for four decades, told fans the new owners will bring titles back.
Stewardship on a 14-month clock
Both statements around this deal lean on the language of permanence. Iger and Kushner used the word stewards. Walter talked about a chapter and about a city that treats the team like family. Fourteen months separated the two record prices.
The sale still needs approval from the NBA Board of Governors.
