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The White House has denied any involvement in the sale of the Lakers to Joshua Kushner, the younger brother of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in a deal reportedly worth $12.5 billion.
On Wednesday, billionaire Lakers owner Mark Walter announced he will sell the team to Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger. Walter owned the Lakers for less than 14 months; the sale comes amid federal probes into alleged financial improprieties related to the insurance companies he controls.
The combination of Kushner’s involvement in the sale and the federal investigations facing Walter drummed up internet speculation that Trump played a role in the transaction.
One theory: The Trump administration encouraged the federal probes against Walter to encourage him to sell to a friend of the Trump family. Another: that Walter could have offered up the Lakers to Kushner in the hopes of the sale easing the federal probe.
When asked specifically about the former, a White House spokesperson provided Front Office Sports with a broad denial: “This has nothing to do with President Trump or his administration.”
A spokesperson for Kushner’s venture capital firm, Thrive Capital, added: “This is false.” Walter’s holding company, TWG Global, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kushner has never held a formal or informal role in Trump’s White House. He identifies as a “lifelong Democrat,” and has a yearslong track record of donating to Democratic politicians.
Kushner’s family, on the other hand, has deep, well-documented ties to Trump beyond just one marriage. During Trump’s first term, Jared worked as a White House adviser; during Trump’s second term, Jared has served in a more informal capacity as Trump’s “Special Envoy for Peace” assisting with U.S. negotiations in the Middle East (he has faced scrutiny for simultaneous business dealings in the region). Also during his first term, Trump pardoned Jared and Josh’s father, Charles Kushner, for federal charges including tax evasion and fraud.
The Lakers sale comes less than a month after a plan for Kushner’s Thrive Eternal fund to invest in the World Cup.
In late July, FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced the “FIFA Forward Enterprise,” a new commercial arm of the governing body that would bring in billions in outside investments each World Cup cycle. After proposed boycotts, resignations, and calls for Infantino to step down, the FIFA president called off the idea, and Trump, who had been silent on the matter, offered public support for Infantino. Trump’s comment said nothing of Kushner or Thrive Eternal.
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