The Los Angeles Lakers have been sold again in a massive $12.5 billion transaction, just a year after the team changed hands. The unexpected deal, spearheaded by former Disney CEO Bob Iger and Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner, unfolded over a frenzied 72 hours, creating a major shake-up in both the sports and business worlds.
On August 12, Iger was on a 213-foot sailing superyacht in Europe, concluding a month-long vacation. While many travelers, including Iger, were positioning themselves for a rare solar eclipse stretching across the continent, Iger was working the phones from Italy. He was busy consummating the stunning sale, aligning with longtime friend and business partner Kushner and Lakers owner Mark Walter.
The swift move puts the Lakers, a foundational Los Angeles institution, into yet another significant transition. The new owners are now evaluating every aspect of the franchise, while the change has once again stirred up public bickering among the six Buss siblings, the team’s former owners, which had been simmering for some time.
This new sale follows a tumultuous period for the team's ownership. Just a year prior, Lakers governor Jeanie Buss had surprised the sports world by negotiating a sale to Mark Walter, ending 46 years of family ownership. Walter, who already held a 27% stake in the team, had the right of first refusal on any sale of the remaining Buss family shares. That deal, valued at $10 billion, was ultimately approved by all six siblings, though not without friction.
According to several family sources, younger brothers Joey and Jesse Buss, who were positioned by Dr. Jerry Buss’s family trust to one day run the team, initially did not respond to the vote. They had previously pitched a plan to sell a minority share at a lower valuation. While they eventually joined their older siblings in voting for Walter's sale, the process fueled animosity, with some siblings grumbling that Jeanie Buss had negotiated directly with Walter instead of opening the bidding to outside buyers.
The relationship within the family further deteriorated when Jeanie Buss approved the firing of Janie, Joey, and Jesse from their roles with the franchise within two months of the sale’s closing. All three had expected to retain their positions, according to multiple family sources. The deal with Walter included contractual language to keep Jeanie Buss in charge for the next five seasons but offered no such protections for other family members. Janie Buss told ESPN’s Baxter Holmes that her sister’s actions made her feel “disrespected, like a ‘crumpled-up piece of paper thrown into the trash’,” adding that she didn't believe their father, who purchased the team in 1979, would be happy with how things unfolded. Further consternation arose when Buss family members were charged more for hospitality and game tickets as part of a restructuring of the Lakers’ business practices before the playoffs.
Iger and Kushner’s pivot to the Lakers came after months of leading a group bidding for a potential Las Vegas NBA expansion franchise. The NBA initially projected these expansion teams to go for $6 billion to $8 billion, but bids had reportedly exceeded that threshold, nearing the $10 billion valuation of Walter’s prior sale. Additionally, the winning group would likely need to spend at least another $2 billion to build an arena. Iger, known for his longtime business relationship with NBA commissioner Adam Silver, including their collaboration on the “bubble” during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Kushner, whose Thrive Eternal fund invests in “iconic franchises and cultural institutions,” discussed their options as the bid deadline approached.
While expansion teams might not fit the description of an 'iconic brand,' established franchises like the Lakers certainly do. The secret cross-continental discussions ultimately led to the $12.5 billion acquisition, eclipsing the ongoing Las Vegas expansion talks. This latest change means a fresh look at operations and personnel, with the team’s roster having been recently overhauled to reflect its superstar, Luka Doncic. The internal strife among the Buss family, however, continues to hang uncomfortably over the start of this new season, even with the new ownership in place.
