Mark Walter To Buy Lakers From The Buss Family For $10B – Highest Ever Paid For U.S. Sports Franchise

The Buss family is entering into an agreement to sell the majority ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers to Mark Walter for a franchise valuation of $10 billion, which is the highest ever for a U.S. professional sports franchise.

The Buss family will keep a minority share of the team for a period of time, which is just over 15%

With the Buss family keeping a minority share of the team, Jeanie Buss will remain the Lakers’ governor and continue to run the team for “at least a number of years,” sources with knowledge of the deal told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. It was guaranteed as part of the agreement that Buss would remain in charge for the foreseeable future, and Walter fully endorsed this plan, according to sources.

Walter, the CEO and chairman of diversified holding company TWG Global, has been a stakeholder in the Lakers since 2021, when he acquired Phil Anschutz‘s 26% stake. That also was when Walter received a right of first refusal on the majority share of the team.

Walter and TWD Global have interests in multiple professional sports organizations, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Sparks, Premier League club Chelsea and the Professional Women’s Hockey League. And through TWG Motorsports, Walter owns several auto racing teams, including Cadillac Formula 1.

The Buss family has owned the Lakers since 1979, when Jerry Buss purchased the franchise from Jack Kent Cooke in a $67.5 million transaction that also included the Los Angeles Kings and the Forum. Since 1980, the Lakers have won 11 championships, the most by any NBA team during that span.

When Buss died in 2013, ownership of the Lakers went into a trust controlled by his six children, who all worked for the Lakers in various capacities for several years. An agreement was struck in 2017 calling for Jeanie Buss to serve as controlling owner, ending a battle that included her going to court after her brothers Jim and Johnny Buss called for a board meeting that she interpreted as a challenge to her power — shortly after she removed Jim Buss as the Lakers’ executive vice president of basketball operations.

The intended sale to Walter was approved by the Buss siblings through a majority vote, sources told ESPN.

Sources told Shelburne that Lakers star Luka Doncic, acquired in the blockbuster February trade that sent Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks, was given a short heads-up on the purchase agreement.

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Article by James Van Wickler