The Buss family is entering into an agreement to sell majority ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers to Mark Walter for a franchise valuation of approximately $10 billion, sources told ESPN on Wednesday, the highest ever for a U.S. professional sports franchise.
The Buss family will keep a minority share of the team, just over 15%, for a period of time, a source said. In addition, Jeanie Buss will remain the Lakers’ governor and continue to run the team for “at least a number of years,” sources with knowledge of the deal told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. It was guaranteed as part of the agreement that Buss would remain in charge for the foreseeable future, and Walter fully endorsed this plan, according to sources. Walter, the CEO and chairman of diversified holding company TWG Global, has been a stakeholder in the Lakers since 2021, when he purchased Phil Anschutz’s share of 26%. That also was when Walter received a right of first refusal on the majority share of the team.
The Lakers have been owned by the Buss family since 1979, when Jerry Buss purchased the franchise from Jack Kent Cooke in a $67.5 million transaction that also included the Los Angeles Kings and the Forum. Since 1980, the Lakers have won 11 championships, the most by any NBA team during that span.
When Buss died in 2013, ownership of the Lakers went into a trust controlled by his six children, who all worked for the Lakers in various capacities for several years. An agreement was struck in 2017 calling for Jeanie Buss to serve as controlling owner, ending a battle that included her going to court after her brothers Jim and Johnny Buss called for a board meeting that she interpreted as a challenge to her power — shortly after she removed Jim Buss as the Lakers’ executive vice president of basketball operations.