• Loading stock data...
Saturday, October 4, 2025

Buss Family Selling Lakers to Mark Walter in Record-Smashing $10 Billion Deal

The Buss family has owned the NBA team since the 1970s.

LeBron
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers are changing hands.

The Buss family, which has owned the team since 1979, will sell its majority stake to Mark Walter, ESPN reported Wednesday. Walter is an owner of the Dodgers, Sparks, and Cadillac’s Formula One team, and he is the primary financial backer of the PWHL.

Jeanie Buss will stay on as the team’s primary governor after Walter takes over, and ESPN reports she will continue to run the team for “at least a number of years.” The deal values the team at $10 billion, according to ESPN.

The Lakers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Walter, 65, is the CEO of Guggenheim Partners and TGW Holdings. He also, through a holding company, owns stakes in Chelsea and Ligue 1’s RC Strasbourg. He already owned a sizable minority stake in the Lakers before Wednesday’s report.

The Buss family is one of the NBA’s longest-running controlling owners. Jerry Buss bought the Lakers, Kings, and Los Angeles Forum for $67.5 million in 1979. Jeanie Buss, 63, has been governor since her father died in 2013.

According to ESPN, Walter has had first pick at the Buss family’s 66% majority stake ever since 2021, when he took over Philip Anschutz’s 26% stake in the team. The Athletic reported Wednesday that the deal “could reach $12 billion in value,” while ESPN reported that the Buss family will keep 15% of the team.

The $10 billion valuation would launch the NBA—and sports franchise sales generally—into another stratosphere. The recently-announced Celtics sale is set for $6.1 billion, a then-record price tag for U.S. sports that required a complex, multi-stage agreement and a consortium of investors to fund the deal. Estimates generally had the Lakers valued between $7 billion and $8 billion, with the Knicks and Warriors ahead.

It’s a dramatic increase in the NBA, where Mark Cuban sold his majority stake in the Mavericks in a deal that valued the team at $3.5 billion less than two years ago.

It may even reshape team prices in other sports. The previous record valuation was for the 49ers, set just a few weeks ago, when the NFL team sold a small stake in a deal that valued the team at $8.6 billion.

The deal comes as the NBA’s new 11-year, $77 billion media rights deal—roughly triple the old deal—is about to kick in. ESPN retains the “A” package, with NBC making its return as an NBA broadcaster, and newcomer Amazon Prime Video joining on. Starting next year, teams will earn about $140 million each from the new rights agreement, but that figure could rise to about $290 million annually by the end of the deal, according to The Athletic.

The 17-time NBA champions are one of the league’s most iconic franchises, and currently roster two of its biggest superstars in LeBron James and Luka Dončić.

But the team was eliminated by Minnesota 4–1 in the first round of the playoffs this year. James, 40, has one year remaining on a two-year, $101.3 million deal. Dončić will be eligible to sign a maximum four-year extension with the Lakers in August and has said he intends to stay with the team.

In 2013, the family’s stake originally passed from their father to all Buss siblings, with Jeanie as the governor. But infighting followed in 2017. Jeanie fired her brother Jim as vice president of basketball operations for not consulting her on trades. Jim and brother Johnny took the battle to court with the goal of ousting Jeanie from the team’s board of governors, but she emerged victorious with control over the club.

Walter and Guggenheim bought the Dodgers in 2012 and has overseen two World Series titles. In 2014, he bought the Sparks with a Dodgers ownership group that includes Magic Johnson. The team had previously been owned by Jerry Buss and led by president Johnny Buss until 2006.

His financing of the PWHL has brought him even wider name recognition—the league’s equivalent of the Stanley Cup is called the Walter Cup after him and his wife, Kimbra. Walter’s TWG also owns the parent company of Gainbridge, whose name is on the Pacers’ and Fever’s home in Indianapolis and sponsors a number of high-profile athletes, including Caitlin Clark.

The sale is the second major non-Finals news out of the NBA amid the Finals. On Sunday, the Grizzlies traded Desmond Bane to the Magic for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four first-round draft picks, and a pick swap. The big exchange dominated NBA talk shows ahead of a decisive Game 5 Monday.

Once again, the league has found itself with a headline-making transaction on the day before a Finals game.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Sep 27, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Jackson Chourio (11) rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the sixth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at American Family Field.

Milwaukee Moneyball: Brewers Are Beating MLB’s Deeper Pockets

Milwaukee is holding its own against big-budget competitors.
Sep 23, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Stars forward Adam Erne (76) looks on during the game between the Dallas Stars and the Minnesota Wild at American Airlines Center
exclusive

Dallas Stars Eyeing Possible Move to Plano in 2031

The team needs to figure out where they’ll play starting in 2031.
Signs promoting the FIFA World Cup Final coming to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ on Wednesday Feb. 7, 2024. The World Cup is held every four years and the 2026 World Cup Final match will be played at MetLife Stadium.

High Ticket Prices Define First World Cup Presale

Most fans weren’t picked for the pricey first presale window.

Featured Today

Kōloa Rum Company Rum Rusher

Panthers Bubbly, Jets Wine, Manning Whiskey: The Sports Booze Boom

A sommelier dives into the sports booze trend—and tries Jets wine.
Nov 17, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers fans wave Terrible Towels against the Baltimore Ravens during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium
September 26, 2025

Steelers’ Irish Roots Are Deeper Than NFL Dublin Game

The Steelers have history and the foundation for a future in Ireland.
FARMINGDALE, NY - SEPTEMBER 23: Rory McIlroy of Team Europe hits out of the rough on the first hole during the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage State Park on Tuesday, September 23, 2025 in Farmingdale, New York.
September 25, 2025

Ryder Cup in New York: Record-Setting Hopes and Fan Concerns

Organizers anticipate record attendance and revenue, but worry remains about fan behavior.
FARMINGDALE, NY - SEPTEMBER 22: Cameron Young of Team USA hits his tee shot on the third hole during the 2025 Ryder Cup Practice Round at Bethpage State Park on Monday, September 22, 2025 in Farmingdale, New York.
September 23, 2025

U.S. Ryder Cup Players Will Be Paid. Not Everyone Is Pleased

Americans are receiving a $200,000 stipend, and not everyone is pleased.
Blake Bortles appears set to exit Jacksonville with a career 24-49 record.

Private Equity’s Sports Push Has Entered Overdrive

Athletes like Blake Bortles and Rob Gronkowski are diving into sports investing.
September 30, 2025

Jozy Altidore: Becoming an NFL Owner Is Like Going Back to School

Altidore owns stakes in the Bills and the NWSL’s Bay FC.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), one of several premier sponsors for the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, as seen on Stadium 2 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, Calif., on March 14, 2024.
September 30, 2025

The Australian Soccer Player Running Saudi PIF’s SURJ Sports

SURJ Sports CEO Danny Townsend says there is “genuine commitment” to social change.
Sponsored

How Soccer Star Jozy Altidore Became a Buffalo Bills Owner

Jozy Altidore discusses building a business legacy off the field.
Sep 21, 2025; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots wide receiver Kyle Williams (18) completes a pass during the third quarter at Gillette Stadium.
September 25, 2025

Patriots Become Fourth NFL Team to Add Private-Equity Investor

The minority stake sales value the team at more than $9 billion.
Napoli Basketball
September 25, 2025

Napoli Basketball, Campobasso Owner Charts Conglomerate Plan

Matt Rizzetta’s new corporate entity will house multiple pro teams and real estate assets.
Shaedon Sharpe
September 24, 2025

RAJ Sports Sues Over Sale of Blazers Minority Stake

The Kings minority owners claim the Cherng Family Trust breached an agreement.
September 23, 2025

PrizePicks Sells $1.6B Stake, Launches Prediction Markets Business

PrizePicks’ CEO believes it is “the next $40 billion company in the U.S.”