Lakers reportedly being sold from Buss family to Dodgers owner Mark Walter for record $10 billion valuation

The Lakers may be the biggest team brand in the NBA, with the most globally recognized star on the team, but in many ways, they were a throwback — the Lakers were the Buss family business. The children of legendary owner Jerry Buss run the team as their primary source of income, all have roles in operating the team, and they own the team through a shared trust (they own 66% of the Lakers). However, without a massive outside income source, it has become increasingly difficult for them to keep up financially in spending off the court with private equity owners or individuals like cross-town Clippers owner Steve Ballmer (net worth $151 billion). For example, the Lakers have likely the smallest scouting staff in the NBA; it was just not where they spent money. The cost of keeping up has been getting harder for a team that has to feed a lot of mouths.

That’s why the Buss family is selling a majority stake of the Lakers to Dodgers owner Mark Walter at a franchise valuation of $10 billion, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN and confirmed by others, including NBCLA. That sale price valuation would be the largest for any sports franchise sale.

The Buss family will retain 15% ownership, at least for a time, according to the report. That is enough for Jeanie Buss to stay on as governor under the NBA’s bylaws, and she is expected to do so. This sale has to be approved by the NBA Board of Governors (the other owners).

This sale price sets the record for an NBA team, topping the $6.1 billion valuation of the Boston Celtics for their sale earlier this year (that sale is still being finalized).

Jerry Buss purchased the Lakers from Jack Kent Cooke for $67.5 million, and that sale included the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and the Los Angeles Forum (now owned by the Clippers’ Ballmer and is a popular concert venue). The Lakers have won 11 NBA championships since that purchase and have consistently featured some of the best and most popular players in the sport, including Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and now LeBron James.

Jeanie and the five other Buss children own the Lakers through a complex trust set up by Jerry Buss before he passed in 2013, and they could only sell if the majority of them agreed to the deal. While there had been rumors that Jim Buss — who was head of basketball operations for the team but was ultimately pushed aside by Jeanie as fans grew restless — and at least one other family member had wanted to sell for a while. The way the trust is rumored to be structured, the shares owned by the Buss children do not automatically pass on to their children (if one Buss family member passes, the split goes from six to five). With several of those Buss family members older than 60, it may have factored into the decision.

Walter is the CEO of TWG Global, a private equity company, as well as the co-founder and CEO of Guggenheim Partners. He is the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers (with Guggenheim) as well as the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA, Chelsea FC of the English Premier League, the Cadillac Formula 1 racing team (as well as other auto racing teams) and the Professional Women’s Hockey League. He bought a share of the Lakers in 2021 — 27% of the team from Philip Anschutz — and with that, he was given the first right of refusal should the Buss family choose to sell.

Magic Johnson, the Lakers legend and part-owner of the Dodgers (and often the face of that management team), told Lakers fans to celebrate.

What Walter has shown with the Dodgers is a willingness to spend. While the NBA salary cap structure — especially now with its luxury tax aprons — is not going to allow Walter to buy players in quite the same way he has with the Dodgers, there are certainly places he can spend off the court such as the scouting mentioned above. The Lakers do not own Crypto.com Arena — AEG, the Anschutz Entertainment Group run by Philip Anschutz does, and he also owns the NHL’s Kings — but have a lease that runs through 2041.