Bob Iger Buys L.A. Lakers In Record-Setting, $12.5B Post-Disney Move
UPDATED with Magic Johnson comments: Fulfilling a long-held dream, Bob Iger has bought himself a big-city major sports franchise.
The ex-Disney CEO and Thrive Capital boss Josh Kushner have scored the Los Angeles Lakers at a valuation of $12.5 billion, Deadline has confirmed. That’s the highest valuation for a sports team in U.S. history, topping the record set when current owner owner Mark Walter bought the team just over one year ago. They will be buying out Walter’s 80% stake in the team.
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“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,” Iger and Kushner said in a statement Wednesday. “We have immense respect for the leadership and vision of Jerry and Jeanie Buss. 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.”
Of interest to longtime fans is the fate of Jeanie Buss, who under and agreement with Walter is serving as the team’s governor in league meetings.
“We have enormous respect and appreciation for Jeanie, her father and what they’ve contributed to this franchise,” Iger told The California Post. “And we have every intention to honor the agreement that was made between Mark and Jeanie. If things change, they’ll change, but we’re going into this with enormous respect and appreciation for who she is and what she represents in the organization.”
Even as the deal needs to get formal thumbs-up from the NBA Board of Governors, Iger and Kushner got the stamp of approval from Lakers legend Magic Johnson ASAP.
“Laker fans, you couldn’t have two better owners,” Johnson posted online this morning. “I’ve known Bob personally for over 40 years — he has always loved the Lakers and basketball, and he will bring championships back to LA”
The team’s current superstar, Luka Doncic, who was traded to the Lakers in a deal that blindsided not just the league, but Doncic as well, said in part, “I’ve gotten used to big changes over these last few years, but I know that no matter what, there is no limit to the potential of this iconic franchise. I look forward to meeting Josh and Bob so we can get to work building something special in LA together.”
Lakers minority owner and current governor Jeanie Buss retweeted Doncic and wrote, “Perfectly said,” alongside gold and purple hear emojis.
After two stints as Disney boss, Iger exited the CEO seat in March. He rejoined Thrive as an adviser in April, setting the table for today’s big news. It has been a true whirlwind for the 17-time NBA champion Lakers the past year — and we’re not just talking about LeBron James leaving and joining the 76ers. There was the Doncic deal, the sale of the team to Walter last year and now this. And “this” came together in just three days.
Los Angeles Lakers players Jake LaRavia, left, and Luka Doncic in 2025
Matthew A. Smith/Getty Images
Iger has talked for years about owning a major sports franchise. He and Kushner had been part of a group exploring an NBA expansion franchise in Las Vegas. Iger told the Post in an interview today, “We were involved in pursuing the new franchise in Vegas. And while that happened, it was suggested to us that maybe Mark Walter would be interested in selling his stake in the Lakers. And we immediately decided that given the value of the franchise and the iconic nature of the team, that we would be really smart to pursue it. The deal came together in three days.”
Angel City FC stakeholder Iger and Kushner, the once-FIFA-touted financial player (and Donald Trump family member by marriage), take a controlling interest in the one-time home of Magic, Shaq and Kobe from Mark Walter about a year after the Guggenheim Partners CEO bought the Lakers from the Buss family at a valuation of $10 billion. While Walter got close to 80% of the franchise, the the Buss family trust retained a 15% interest.
According to The Athletic, Kushner owns a minority stake in the Miami Heat, which he will likely have to divest. League rules specify that no one can own interest in more than one team. Given the soaring cost of franchises, NBA owners in 2024 voted to allow private equity groups to buy minority stakes in multiple teams, but not a controlling interest. Kushner also once owned a minority strake in the Memphis Grizzlies.
He started Thrive Capital in 2009 with backing from Peter Thiel, according to The Athletic. Iger came on as a minority investor in 2022. Earlier this year, Thrive Capital launched a holding company called Thrive Eternal, whose investments, said Kushner, would be in “iconic franchises and cultural institutions rooted in tradition, identity, and shared experience.” The holding company is, according to The Athletic, the vehicle by which Kushner and Iger intend to buy the Lakers.
Thrive Eternal was one of the investors in the controversial recent plan by FIFA president Gianni Infantino to create a $20 billion commercial arm of soccer’s world governing body by selling stakes in the World Cup and other events. That plan was scuttled after widespread outcry in the soccer world and beyond.
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Walter is not without his own controversies. He is the subject of a federal investigation over his finances, but denies any impropriety. He also owns the Los Angeles Dodgers, and while team leader Mookie Betts skipped a White House championship celebration with Donald Trump last month, Walter was there to present the president with a No. 47 jersey and a world championship ring.
Walter has interest in several other sports teams around the globe. In terms of finance, Iger and Kushner’s purchase of the Lakers would be the highest valuation ever for a sports team — at least until Jerry Jones actually sells the Dallas Cowboys. Walter also owns a majority stake in the Los Angeles Sparks, but the WNBA team is reportedly not included in the deal. Per Bloomberg today, Walter has been seeking “to raise money to help pay down loans on the books of its insurers that had drawn scrutiny from the Justice Department.”
When Walter bought the Lakers last year, it marked the end of an era. The Buss family had shepherded the franchise capably for decades, but infighting had led to disarray in the front office. The league had also changed. While the Busses were wealthy by nearly any measure, they weren’t billionaires like many of the league’s new wave of owners. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, for example, not only overpaid (in cash) for that team, he then spent another $2 billion of his own money to build them a brand new, state-of-the-art arena. (Ballmer’s team is the subject of an NBA investigation over potentially undisclosed sponsorship deals for superstar Kwahi Leonard.)
When Walter came in, Lakers fans were excited to have their very own billionaire in charge. Fans hoped for some facsimile of what Walter has done across town with the Dodgers. The team over in Chavez Ravine has the second-highest payroll in baseball, has invested heavily in beefing up the front office and has won three MLB championships since Walter became majority owner in 2012.
And Walter has been investing. In February, he made his most significant change, bringing over the Dodgers’ longtime executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Lon Rosen, as the Lakers’ president of business operations. The franchise’s G-league (or developmental) team was relocated. There were initiatives to bolster the squad’s assistant general manager ranks and its sports science resources. The team also let a number of longtime staffers go last spring. Now with Walter gone, it is unclear what the team’s direction will be going forward.
But this is not Iger’s first rodeo, so to speak.
Back in 2024, Iger and superstar spouse Willow Bay snared a controlling interest in L.A.’s Angel City FC for $250 million. At the time that was the richest valuation on any women’s sports team ever. Even though Disney under Iger was the first big media outlet to bend the knee to Trump in a $16 million settlement of a lawsuit against ABC News that was widely regarded as weak, Angel City has been a loud and strong advocate for immigrants rights amidst ICE abductions and more in L.A.
From left: Angel City FC technical director Mark Wilson, assistant GM Matt Wade, co-founders Julie Uhrman and Natalie Portman and majority owners Willow Bay and Bob Iger after a March 2025 game in Los Angeles
Meg Oliphant/NWSL via Getty Images
Disney-owned ESPN first broke the news of the Lakers’ new owners.
The upcoming NBA season, with Iger expected to be front and center in DTLA, starts on October 20 with a tripleheader of the Boston Celtics vs the powerful Detroit Pistons, followed by defending champs the New York Knicks up against the 76ers (with LeBron’s debut for the Philly team) and the San Antonio Spurs battling the Oklahoma City Thunder. In a season that sees games on NBC/Peacock, Amazon Prime Video and ESPN, the openers will be on the Comcast-owned outlets. ABC and ESPN still hold the exclusive rights to the NBA Finals, so there’s a chance Iger will be back at Disney in one form or fashion after all.
