The Los Angeles Lakers are being sold to a group led by Josh Kushner and Bob Iger for $12.5bn, the highest price ever paid for a United States sports franchise, barely a year after the club changed hands for $10bn.
Mark Walter, who bought a controlling interest from the Buss family last year, stands to make a profit of about $2.5bn in little over twelve months.
How did the deal happen?
Kushner and Iger had been pursuing an NBA expansion franchise in Las Vegas before pivoting to the Lakers, approaching Walter with an offer on Sunday.
Iger said it was suggested to them that Walter might be interested in selling, and that they decided the iconic nature of the team made it worth pursuing. The deal came together in three days.
| Sale | Price | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Jack Kent Cooke to Jerry Buss | $16m for the Lakers | 1979 |
| Buss family to Mark Walter | $10bn valuation | 2025 |
| Walter to Kushner and Iger | $12.5bn | 2026 |
Who bought the Los Angeles Lakers?
The Los Angeles Lakers are being sold to an ownership group led by Josh Kushner and Bob Iger for $12.5bn, a record price for a United States sports franchise. The sale was first reported by ESPN on 12 August 2026 and confirmed by both buyers. The seller is Mark Walter, chief executive of Guggenheim Partners, who acquired a controlling interest from the Buss family in 2025 at a $10bn valuation, in a deal approved on 30 October 2025. Kushner founded the venture capital firm Thrive Capital and co-founded Oscar Health, and is the younger brother of Jared Kushner. Iger served twice as chief executive of Disney and stepped down in March 2026. The transaction requires approval from the NBA board of governors, which next meets in September in New York. Walter will retain ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Sparks are not part of the sale.
Who are the buyers?
Kushner founded the venture capital firm Thrive Capital, which backed Instagram, Spotify, Stripe and OpenAI, and co-founded the insurer Oscar Health. Forbes estimates his fortune at $5.2bn. He is the younger brother of Jared Kushner.
Iger was chief executive of Disney on two separate occasions and stepped down in March. In a joint statement the pair said they were honoured to become stewards of the franchise and expressed respect for the leadership of Jerry and Jeanie Buss.
What happens next?
The sale requires approval from the NBA board of governors, a process that can take several weeks. The next meeting is in September in New York.
Walter will keep the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks are not part of the transaction. He is the subject of a federal inquiry into whether loans to his companies were properly disclosed; that inquiry has not been cited as a reason for the sale, and his companies deny wrongdoing.
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Sources for this report
The Redline News Desk
The Redline News desk files and edits world reporting. Every story carries the sources it was built from, and corrections are published on the story itself.
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