Report: Buss family selling majority ownership in Lakers at $10 billion valuation
The Buss family will reportedly sell the majority ownership of the Lakers to Mark Walter, CEO of TWG Global, at a valuation of $10 billion.
The Lakers will soon have a new majority ownership group running the franchise.
The Buss family will be selling their majority ownership of the Lakers to Mark Walter, the CEO and chairman of diversified holding company TWG Global, as first reported by Shams Charania of ESPN.
The sale will value the Lakers at a staggering and record-shattering $10 billion.
Walter has been a minority stakeholder in the Lakers since 2021 and has interests in multiple professional sports organizations, including the LA Dodgers, WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, the Billie Jean Cup, Cadillac Formula 1 team and the Professional Women's Hockey League. https://t.co/mgZkxcdXnp
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 18, 2025
Mark Walter is entering agreement to purchase majority ownership of the Lakers from the Buss family for a valuation of approximately $10 billion, the largest sale of a professional sports franchise in the world, sources tell ESPN.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 18, 2025
$10 billion. https://t.co/mgZkxcdXnp
Walter owned a minority stake in the team, which he purchased in 2021. At that time, he also negotiated the right of first refusal if the family sold their stake in the team. Effectively, he could match any deal the family reached to sell their stake.
Walter earned the first right of refusal if the Buss family ever decided to sell their 66 percent stake when he purchased Phil Anschutz’ 26 percent stake in 2021. In other words, this has been positioned to go this way. There are a lot of ties between the Lakers and Dodgers… https://t.co/GlLkBFVkRs
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) June 18, 2025
His right of first refusal is the likeliest reason news of a sale never went public. The outcome, almost certainly, was always going to be Walter purchasing the team.
While it’s unclear the exact details of how much of the Buss family’s stake in the team he purchased — it would not be abnormal for the family to keep a stake in the Lakers — it’s also worth noting that he did not spend $10 billion in this one transaction. Instead, the percentage of the team he bought was purchased with the team being valued at $10 billion.
No matter the specifics, though, it’s an unbelievable number.
Currently, he owns 27.5% of the Dodgers, making him the lead owner, and is also an investor in Chelsea Football Club. He also owns a small stake in the Los Angeles Sparks.
While the majority ownership stake will change according to Shams’ reporting, Jeanie Buss will remain the Governor after the sale, at least for now. According to Dan Woike of the LA Times, Buss would need to be part of an ownership group — which could still be her family — that held at least a 15% stake in the company to keep that position.
It's a $10 billion evaluation per my understanding. Also, for Jeanie Buss to remain an operating governor, she'd need to represent a group that owns at least 15 percent under league bylaws. https://t.co/GKmNAx13Eh
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) June 18, 2025
The Buss family originally bought the Lakers — as well as the Kings and the Forum — back in 1977 by the late Dr. Jerry Buss for $67.5 million from Jack Kent Cooke.
While this is the most recent sale of an NBA team, there have been several over the past few years. The Celtics were sold to private equity firm co-founder Bill Chisholm for a record $6.1 billion this year. In 2023, Mat Ishibia purchased the Phoenix Suns for $4 billion, and Mark Cuban sold his majority stake of the Dallas Mavericks to Miriam Adelson and son-in-law Patrick Dumont for $3.5 billion.
The Lakers’ future and vision will now undoubtedly change with a new ownership group’s influence and input moving forward.