Mark Walter, owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, will reportedly acquire controlling ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers from the Buss family.
In a deal likely to remain one of – if not the – top blockbusters in Los Angeles this year, the Buss family will reportedly sell its controlling stake of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Billionaire Mark Walter, who heads the ownership team for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is slated to take controlling ownership of L.A.’s storied basketball franchise, according to multiple media reports. The deal is slated to value the Lakers at $10 billion, a new record for American professional sports franchises.
ESPN’s Shams Charania first broke news of the deal on Wednesday. Jerry Buss purchased the Lakers franchise, including The Forum and the Los Angeles Kings, in 1979 for $67.5 million, according to CNBC.
Since 2013, the Lakers have operated under the control of his daughter Jeanie Buss, who inherited Jerry’s 66% stake in the franchise in conjunction with her five siblings. Jeanie was designated by Jerry as his successor. Her control survived subsequent challenges by at least two of her siblings.
According to media reports, the Buss family will for now retain about 15% of team ownership, enough to keep Jeanie Buss the team’s governor for the National Basketball Association. She will also continue to operate the team for the foreseeable future, according to ESPN.
The presumed 51% stake sold to Walter, in combination with the 20% stake he previously acquired from media and entertainment mogul Philip Anschutz in 2021, figures to bring him to about 71% control of the team.
Minority owners of the Lakers include Todd Boehly, who bought 7% in concert with Walter from Anschutz; biotech billionaire and Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, who reportedly owns a 4% stake; and billionaire real estate magnate Ed Roski Jr., who owns 3% of the team.
The Lakers have won 17 NBA championships, the second most on record behind the Boston Celtics – which traded last month for a reported $6.1 billion.
The deal represents the latest in a string of Los Angeles-area team ownership transactions.
Tom Gores, the billionaire owner of Beverly Hills-based Platinum Equity, late last year acquired a 27% stake in the Los Angeles Chargers. That deal came together as part of a dispute settlement among members of the Spanos family, who like the Busses collectively inherited ownership of the team after patriarch Alex Spanos died in 2018.
Gores’ purchase included a 24% stake from Dea Spanos Berberian, who had sued team Chairman Dean Spanos for alleged breach of fiduciary duty. The remainder came from 1% stakes acquired from each Dean Spanos, Alexis Spanos Ruhl and Michael Spanos.
With an estimated team valuation of $5.1 billion last year, Gores’ stake figures to be about $1.38 billion. The Business Journal last year estimated Gores, who also owns the NBA’s Detroit Pistons, as having a net worth of approximately $8.8 billion.
Power couple Willow Bay and Bob Iger in July bought a controlling stake in the National Women’s Soccer League’s Angel City FC. The deal placed Bay, known for her career in broadcast journalism and currently dean of USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, as the team’s controlling board member and representative.
Although their exact stake was not disclosed, league rules dictate that controlling owners own at least 35% of a team. With an announced team valuation of $250 million following this transaction, this means Bay and husband Iger, who is on his second stint as chief executive of The Walt Disney Co., would have to have put at least $87.5 million on the table.
The couple additionally committed to investing an additional $50 million into the organization in the future.
