Lakers, Mark Walter Get $10B Sale Approval From NBA Owners

The NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale of the Los Angeles Lakers to Mark Walter, according to the league. The deal valued the 17-time NBA champions at $10 billion, the highest control-sale value in the history of team sports.

Walter’s longtime business partner Todd Boehly will be a limited partner in the franchise. The Buss family will retain a roughly 15% stake in the Lakers, and Jeanie Buss will remain as the club’s governor for several years. The deal is expected to close shortly.

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Walter and Boehly initially purchased a 27% stake in the Lakers in 2021 from Phil Anschutz which valued the team at $5.5 billion. Anschutz had a right of first refusal on any other Lakers shares that came to market, and those rights transferred in the deal.

In June, Walter reached his $10 billion agreement to buy the Lakers, shattering the previous control-sale record, which was the agreement for the Boston Celtics that closed in August. The first tranche of the Celtics deal is at a $6.1 billion price, and the blended valuation is closer to $6.5 billion.

The NFL has had a series of LP stakes sold over the last 12 months at valuations greater than $8 billion, including by the Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers. This fall, the Chicago Bears sold a 2% stake at an $8.8 billion valuation, and the New England Patriots topped that at $9 billion for 8%. Last week, the NFL approved Julia Koch’s purchase of 10% of the New York Giants, which valued the team at just over $10.5 billion.

The Lakers, a storied brand in the second-biggest U.S. market, have been owned by the Buss family since 1979, marking the league’s longest-tenured ownership. Jerry Buss purchased the franchise from Jack Kent Cooke in a $67.5 million transaction that also included the Los Angeles Kings and the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, Calif., where the Kings played then.

Like the Celtics, the Lakers are tenants in their home arena, Crypto.com Arena. The venue, formerly known as Staples Center, is owned and operated by AEG, which owns the NHL’s Kings. The Lakers also have the richest local TV deal in basketball—Charter Communications’ Spectrum brand paid the club nearly $200 million for the 2024-25 season.

The Lakers’ total revenue for last season was an estimated $618 million, net of revenue sharing. It implies a revenue multiple of 16 for the Walter purchase.

Walter is co-founder and CEO of financial services firm Guggenheim Partners, where Boehly also worked until he left in 2015 to start Eldridge Industries. Walter also leads the Dodgers’ ownership group that includes Boehly, and they are co-owners of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks. The pair additionally teamed up with private equity firm Clearlake Capital to buy Chelsea FC in 2022 for $3.16 billion.

The Dodgers were not the Dodgers of today when Walter paid $2.15 billion for the team in 2012. Attendance ranked 11th in MLB in 2011, and the club missed the playoffs for the third straight season the year Walter bought them. It had been 10 years since the Dodgers had a top-five payroll, which ranked 10th in 2012.

Since then, Walter has built a juggernaut on and off the field. He doubled payroll in his first season in charge, which kicked off 13 straight playoff appearances. Now, the team is playing in its third World Series in six years. The Dodgers last year became the first MLB franchise to gross $1 billion in revenue.

People in the NBA are expecting Walter to bring to the Lakers the same level of investment, both financially and in human capital, that has transformed the Dodgers.

Walter’s sports holdings sit within his TWG Global holding company. Other assets include Cadillac’s Formula 1 team and the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

Guggenheim Securities served as financial advisor to Walter, while Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP acted as legal advisor. ArentFox Schiff LLP was legal advisor to the Los Angeles Lakers and Buss.

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Lakers, Mark Walter Get $10B Sale Approval From NBA Owners

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