Buss family selling Lakers to Dodgers owner Mark Walter for $10 billion valuation
The Los Angeles Lakers will have new majority ownership, selling to Mark Walter, the CEO of TWG Global and controlling owner of the Dodgers.
www.usatoday.com
The Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most iconic and most valuable franchises in the NBA, is going to have new majority ownership.
The Buss family, led by Jeanie Buss, has reached an agreement to sell a majority ownership stake to businessman Mark Walter, the CEO and founder of holding company TWG Global, for a $10 billion valuation, a person with knowledge of the agreement confirmed to USA Today Sports.
The person spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly disclose details of the agreement.
The sale breaks the record for the most expensive purchase agreement of a U.S. pro sports franchise in history.
The person also confirmed that Jeanie Buss, 63, will remain in her position as the governor of the Lakers in the short-term, a setup that accounts for estate planning for the family. This arrangement is similar to the one longtime Celtics managing partner Wyc Grousbeck arranged in the March 2025 sale of that franchise to William Chisholm.
The Celtics sold for a $6.1 billion valuation, which had set the record for a North American sports franchise.
Walter is also the chairman and controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and also has interests in the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, the Billie Jean Cup, the Cadillac Formula 1 team and the Professional Women's Hockey League. Thanks to an investment he made in July 2021 in which he and business partner Todd Boehly acquired a 27% minority interest in the Lakers, Walter was also given the right of first refusal on the majority share of the Lakers, should the franchise become available for sale.
The sale price actually dwarfed the team's estimated valuation. According to Forbes, which publishes its annual list of valuations of sports franchises, the Lakers were ranked as the eighth-most valuable franchise in the world in 2024, valued at $7.1 billion.
Jerry Buss, the father of Jeanie, purchased the Lakers in 1979, and the family has had controlling ownership over the franchise since. The Lakers have won 18 NBA championships, second only to the Boston Celtics.
