Buss Family Sells Majority Stake in Los Angeles Lakers to Mark Walter for $10 Billion: A New Era for the Iconic NBA Team

The Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most iconic franchises in the NBA, is about to undergo a significant change in ownership. The Buss family, which has run the team for 46 years and won 17 NBA championships, is selling a majority stake in the franchise to Mark Walter for a valuation of $10 billion. Walter, who had previously owned a minority stake in the Lakers, is the chief executive of TWG Global and has a controlling interest in another Southern California franchise, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The sale would be the second glamorous Southern California franchise in which Walter has a controlling interest since he led an ownership group that purchased the Dodgers in 2012. The Lakers have been one of the NBA's last family businesses in the past decade, with a relatively modest-sized front office and support staff. However, with Walter's injection of spending power, the team could see a transformation similar to how his Guggenheim Baseball Group transformed the Dodgers from a team that filed for bankruptcy in 2011 to a financial juggernaut and two-time World Series champion backed by an $8.3 billion media rights deal with Time Warner Cable. The $10 billion valuation is all the more remarkable given that the Lakers do not own their own arena. Anschutz Entertainment Group owns and operates Crypto.com Arena. Last year, Forbes ranked the Lakers as the world's eighth most valuable team at $7.1 billion. Should the NBA approve the sale, it would be the first time since 1979 that the Buss family no longer controls the team. Upon Jerry Buss' death in 2013, control of the team transferred to a family trust, and his children have run the team since then, led by daughter Jeanie Buss. The family held a 66% stake in the team, but plans to continue to act as the team's governor after sale, which would allow her to vote on league matters at board meetings of NBA owners. According to NBA bylaws, Buss would need to retain at least 15% ownership to remain in such a role. The sale resets the bar for the value of a pro sports team and holds the record for NBA franchises, surpassing the proposed $6.1 billion sale of the Boston Celtics, which has yet to be formally completed. The Lakers' new owner, Mark Walter, is expected to be a great caretaker of the Laker brand and bring success to the team once again.