Buss family reportedly to sell majority ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers to Mark Walter in record $10 billion deal

After decades under the Buss family, Los Angeles Lakers are changing hands.

The Buss family is entering an agreement to sell majority ownership of the NBA franchise to Mark Walter, who is the CEO and chairman of TWG Global, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Walter is also the primary owner and chairman of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he owns stakes in Chelsea in the English Premier League, an F1 team and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, among other things. He currently holds a minority stake in the Lakers, too.

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The deal is expected to have a valuation of approximately $10 billion, which makes it the largest sale of a professional sports franchise in the world.

Jerry Buss first purchased the Lakers in 1979 for $67.5 million in a deal that also included the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and The Forum. The franchise passed down to his children after he died in 2013, and Jeanie Buss has been the team’s governor ever since. Jeanie is expected to continue in that role even after the sale. Currently, the Buss family owns about two-thirds of the Lakers.

Specifics of the deal, including what percentage of the team Walter is purchasing and for how much, are not yet known. He first joined the Lakers’ ownership group in 2021. According to a CNBC report earlier this year, the Lakers were valued at about $7 billion, which made them the third-most valuable team in the league behind only the New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors.

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The Boston Celtics were the last NBA team to be sold when they struck a deal with a group led by Bill Chisholm earlier this year. The group purchased the Celtics for $6.05 billion, which set an NBA record. Controlling ownership of both the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks were sold in recent years, too.

The Lakers have shined under the Buss family’s leadership and turned into one of the premier franchises in all of sports. They’ve won 11 NBA titles, most recently in 2020, including a rare three-peat from 2000-2002 with head coach Phil Jackson and star Kobe Bryant. Most recently, the team stunned the NBA world with its trade to acquire Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Dončić last season.

While Jeanie is still set to control the Lakers, the Buss family selling the franchise marks the end of an era for the team that has led the NBA in a number of ways for decades.