Joshua Kushner, founding father of Thrive Capital (L), and Bob Iger throughout the Allen & Co. Media and Expertise Convention in Solar Valley, Idaho, US, on Friday, July 10, 2026.
Getty Photos (L) | CNBC (R)
The Los Angeles Lakers have bought — once more.
Lower than a yr after shopping for a controlling possession stake within the NBA’s Lakers, Mark Walter has bought his majority fairness to Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger, in accordance with a press release.
The deal values the crew at $12.5 billion, in accordance with an individual acquainted with the matter, who was not licensed to talk publicly in regards to the phrases of the sale.
“As lifelong NBA followers, we’re deeply honored for the chance to turn into stewards of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the crucial iconic sports activities franchises on the planet,” Iger and Kushner mentioned in a joint assertion Wednesday. “We’ve immense respect for the management and imaginative and prescient of Jerry and Jeanie Buss. Our long-term dedication is to construct on that basis, compete on the highest degree, and serve this extraordinary crew, its followers, and town of Los Angeles.”
Kushner and Iger have been enterprise companions earlier than. Iger joined Thrive Capital, the enterprise capital agency run and based by Kushner, earlier this yr. Iger, 75, stepped down as CEO of Disney earlier this yr after two stints that totaled roughly 20 years on the helm of the media big.
Kushner is the brother of Jared Kushner, who’s married to U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka. Kushner and Iger had beforehand expressed curiosity in shopping for an NBA growth crew in Las Vegas.
Walter acquired the Lakers in October at a valuation of $10 billion.
Final month, Bloomberg reported the Securities and Change Fee and U.S. prosecutors have been investigating potential monetary improprieties at two of Walter’s insurance coverage firms and at Guggenheim Companions, the sprawling monetary agency that Walter co-founded and nonetheless leads.
Walter’s TWG International holding firm controls the insurers, his stake in Guggenheim, and possession stakes in different sports activities groups together with MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers and the English Premier League soccer crew Chelsea.
Walter can also be amongst a gaggle of buyers that owns the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.
The sale introduced Wednesday solely contains his stake within the Lakers, in accordance with the particular person acquainted with the matter.
The Wall Avenue Journal reported final month that Walter, 66, suffered a stroke in 2024 and that his well being standing has “turn into a matter of concern inside his enterprise empire, with various opinions on whether or not lingering results from the stroke have impacted his health to steer his companies.”
Iger and his spouse, Willow Bay, acquired skilled ladies’s soccer crew Angel Metropolis Soccer Membership for $250 million in 2024.
Watch: Bob Iger, Joshua Kushner purchase L.A. Lakers at a $12.5 billion valuation, sources say
