In a stunning announcement, the Los Angeles Lakers were sold again on Wednesday less than a year after the team was sold for a then-record price of $10 billion.
The controlling ownership stake in the historic NBA franchise was purchased by former Disney CEO Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, the younger brother of president Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Kushner and Iger will pay previous Lakers owner Mark Walter $12.5 billion for the team, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne first reported.
The amount is now the highest ever total paid for a team in the United States, replacing the $10 billion Walter purchased his stake for in October 2025.
Prior to Walter purchasing a majority stake in the Lakers last year, the team was owned by the family members, primarily Jeanie Buss, of longtime former owner Jerry Buss, who died in 2013; Jerry Buss bought the Lakers in 1979.
After the team not changing hands for so long, it came as a bit of a shock for fans to see the ownership of the team transferred again just 10 months later.
“As lifelong NBA fans, we are deeply honored for the opportunity to become stewards of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most iconic sports franchises in the world. We have immense respect for the leadership and vision of Jerry and Jeanie Buss,” Kushner and Iger said in a statement.
“Our long-term commitment is to build on that foundation, compete at the highest level, and serve this extraordinary team, its fans, and the city of Los Angeles.”
Josh Kushner, 41, runs a venture capital firm called Thrive Captial, and he is the co-founder of health insurance company Oscar Health. As the former Disney CEO, Iger had a large hand in running ESPN before stepping down this year.
Thrive Capital was recently at the center of a controversy involving FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who tried to sell a stake a minority stake in the World Cup to the firm for $4.2 billion. The plot was thwarted after multiple soccer governing bodies, including UEFA, Concacaf, and the AFC, condemned the potential decision.
Infantino is now under pressure to step down. Trump, who is a close associate with Infantino, spoke out in support of him on Monday.
“FIFA would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing President Gianni Infantino,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He is fantastic, having just presided over the most successful World Cup, by four times, ever presented. If he is gone, it will never be as successful or profitable again!”
With speculation swirling about Trump’s potential influence factoring into the deal, a White House spokesperson told Front Office Sports Wednesday afternoon that the sale of the Lakers “has nothing to do with President Trump or his administration.”
Despite his older brother’s history as a close adviser of Trump, Josh Kushner and his wife, Karlie Kloss, identify as democrats.
Kloss attended the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in June, and she recently explained in a July interview with Bloomberg Originals that she has never even met the current U.S. president.
“We’re sitting here in St. Louis, which is a blue dot in a red state,” Kloss, who grew up in St. Louis, said. “Since as long as I can remember, I’ve always been exposed to a lot of different political points of view, and I think that trained me for my life. You know, I’m a Democrat.”
In addition to the Lakers, Mark Walter and holding company TWG Global hold ownership stakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Sparks, Premier League club Chelsea and the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
There are two insurance companies owned by Walter, Delaware Life Insurance Co. and Clear Spring Life and Annuity Co., currently under federal investigation, Bloomberg reported last month. The inquiry is related to private credit investments that were more intertwined with other parts of Walter’s business than previously disclosed, per the report.
Wednesday evening, an additional Bloomberg report said that Walter had been in recent talks with investors in an attempt to raise money to pay down loans connected his insurance businesses currently under investigation. The need for immediate cash likely explains the abrupt sale of the Lakers, which came together in just 72 hours, according to sports business reporter Joe Pompliano.
Walter has a net worth of approximately $16 billion. The NBA’s board of governors still has to approve the new sale of the Lakers, per ESPN, and that process could last several weeks once it begins.
“Owning the Los Angeles Lakers has been one of the great honors of my life — an extraordinary investment, but what I will carry with me is the community, the fans, and a city that treats this team as family,” Walter said in a statement.
“I am grateful to Jeanie Buss, the Buss family, the players, and the staff for welcoming me into this chapter. The Lakers belong to Los Angeles, and I have every confidence the best is still ahead.”
