Mark Walter has agreed to sell his majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, at a valuation of $12.5 billion, according to ESPN. If confirmed, this sale would be the largest on record for a sports franchise in the US.
CNBC attributes the $12.5 billion figure to a person “not authorized to speak publicly about the terms of the sale.” Not Kushner, Iger, Walter or the NBA has put a price on the record. Even the scope of the sale is unclear. Walter has never owned the Lakers outright, and Jeanie Buss remains an investor in the team.
According to CBS Sports, the sale needs prior approval from the NBA’s board of governors. It would end Walter’s ownership after less than a year: ESPN reported his own purchase at a valuation of approximately $10 billion, a price this deal would exceed by a quarter.
Kushner and Iger, per ESPN, had been pursuing an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas before turning their attention to the Lakers. The two have been doing business for years. Iger first joined Kushner’s venture firm, Thrive Capital, in 2022, before he returned to Disney for a second stint as CEO. He returned to Thrive in 2023 and then again in April 2026, shortly after yielding Disney’s CEO post to Josh D’Amaro.
Other holdings
- Walter is controlling partner of Guggenheim Baseball Management and chairman of the Los Angeles Dodgers, bought by his group for $2 billion in 2012.
- Walter is part of the ownership consortium, led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, that owns Chelsea FC.
- The WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, majority-owned by Walter’s group since 2014, are reportedly excluded from the Lakers sale, per The Athletic. This is unconfirmed by Walter, the WNBA or the Sparks.
- Kushner’s new holding vehicle, Thrive Eternal, agreed in its founding month, April 2026, to acquire a stake in the San Francisco Giants. This deal, the vehicle’s first, is subject to MLB approval.
- Kushner previously held a minority stake in the Memphis Grizzlies and more recently in the Miami Heat. ESPN reports that he will divest his stake in the Heat to clear the way for the Lakers purchase.
- Iger and his wife, Willow Bay, are the controlling owners of the NWSL’s Angel City FC. Their stake was valued at $250 million on acquisition, in 2024.
