The Los Angeles Lakers have been sold. Again. Fourteen months after Mark Walter bought the franchise for a then-record $10 billion, former Disney CEO Bob Iger and venture capitalist Josh Kushner — younger brother of Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law — have agreed to purchase the team for $12.5 billion, according to CBS News. That's a $2.5 billion profit in just over a year, which is either the greatest sports investment since someone thought to charge $18 for stadium beer, or a sign that NBA franchise valuations have fully detached from the physical universe.
The Deal, By the Numbers
ESPN first reported the sale, with NBC News and CBS News confirming shortly after. The $12.5 billion price tag sets a new record for a professional sports franchise sale, blowing past the $10 billion Walter paid last October and the $6.1 billion that went for the Boston Celtics before that. The pace at which these records are being broken suggests that whoever buys the Lakers next — probably in 2028, at $17 billion — will simply hand over the deed to a small country.
Walter, the CEO of Guggenheim Partners, was gracious about flipping a $2.5 billion gain in slightly more than a year. "Owning the Los Angeles Lakers has been one of the great honors of my life," he said in a statement obtained by NBC News. "It has been an extraordinary investment." He mentioned the extraordinary investment twice. In two consecutive sentences. Nobody can blame him.
Who Are These People, Exactly
Bob Iger, 75, ran Disney for two separate stints — from 2005 to 2020 and again from 2022 until this past March, according to CBS News. He is not exactly a stranger to Los Angeles or to sports ownership. He and his wife, journalist Willow Bay, bought a controlling stake in NWSL's Angel City FC in 2024 at a $250 million valuation, per NBC News. Now he's jumping straight to a $12.5 billion asset. The man does not do things halfway.
Josh Kushner, 41, is the founder of venture capital firm Thrive Capital and co-founder of health insurance company Oscar Health. He already held a minority stake in the Miami Heat, CBS News reports. His firm was briefly in the news for a very different reason when FIFA tried to sell Thrive Capital a minority stake in the World Cup — a plan that collapsed under worldwide backlash from soccer leaders across three continents, according to NBC News. So he knows what it feels like when an entire sport tells him no. The Lakers fanbase is more forgiving, presumably.
The Kushner in the Room
Look, nobody is going to pretend the Kushner family name doesn't carry some baggage at the moment. Josh is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump and currently serves as U.S. Ambassador to France and Monaco under President Trump. That's a lot of family dinner conversation about deregulation.
To his credit, Josh Kushner has spent years publicly positioning himself as the moderate, Silicon Valley-adjacent Kushner — a Democratic donor, a man who wore an "I voted" sticker in a way the New York press found very meaningful circa 2020. Whether that distinction matters to Lakers fans staring down the barrel of MAGA-adjacent ownership drama is something the Staples Center parking lot will work out in due time. He and Iger issued a joint statement saying they are "lifelong NBA fans" who are "deeply honored" and committed to competing "at the highest level." Standard ownership statement. Could have been generated by a bot, but the sentiment is fine.
The Team They're Actually Buying
Here is the on-court situation, which is genuinely complicated. LeBron James, the all-time leading scorer in NBA history, announced in July that he was leaving Los Angeles to finish his career with the Philadelphia 76ers on a two-year, $8 million contract, per NBC News. He played eight seasons with the Lakers. His departure closes one of the most remarkable chapters in franchise history and leaves a void that no amount of ownership prestige can immediately fill.
The new era belongs to Luka Doncic, who was acquired in a shocking trade from Dallas in February 2025 and then signed a contract extension last August, according to CBS News. Doncic led the league last season with 33.5 points per game, per NBC News, and is backed by Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler. The team finished fourth in the Western Conference before getting bounced by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the semifinals. Not a disaster. Not a dynasty. A work in progress that just got very expensive new management.
Magic Says Don't Panic
Magic Johnson, who won five championships as a Laker, served as the team's President of Basketball Operations, and was part of the ownership group that bought the Dodgers for $2.15 billion in 2012, has offered his seal of approval. "Laker fans, you couldn't have two better owners," Johnson wrote, according to the New York Post. "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."
Magic's championship promises carry weight. They also carry a certain optimism that 14 months of Mark Walter ownership did not exactly deliver. Iger and Kushner will need more than a warm endorsement from Showtime's most iconic player. They'll need Luka to stay healthy, a coaching staff that actually works, and probably a few more pieces around a 27-year-old Slovenian who sometimes looks like he's playing a different, better sport than everyone else on the floor.
The Dingo Take
A $12.5 billion sports franchise. Flipped in 14 months. To the brother of the president's son-in-law and the guy who ran the Magic Kingdom. This is the sentence that describes professional basketball in America in August 2026, and we are all just supposed to nod along because the market supports it.
There's nothing technically wrong with any of this. Sports franchises are appreciating assets. Rich people buy them and sell them. The NBA is a growing global business and Los Angeles is one of the biggest markets on earth. Josh Kushner's politics are not his brother's politics. Bob Iger built one of the most successful media companies in history. These are all facts. The deal will probably get approved. The Lakers will probably be fine.
But let's sit with the number for a second. $12.5 billion. The Lakers last won a championship six years ago. LeBron James just left for Philadelphia on eight million dollars over two years, which in this context sounds like the franchise tipped him. The team's best player is 27. And two very wealthy men just decided that right now, in this exact moment, $12.5 billion is the right price to pay for that situation. Either they know something the rest of us don't, or NBA franchise valuations are running on pure vibes and faith. Magic says championships are coming. He's been right before. We'll check back in a few years.
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