The Lakers have new owners for the second time in 14 months. Josh Kushner and Bob Iger have agreed to buy the franchise from Mark Walter at a valuation of $12.5 billion, a record price for a professional sports franchise anywhere in the world.
The agreement, first reported by ESPN still requires approval from the NBA’s board of governors before it becomes official, but both buyers have already confirmed the deal publicly.
The number is staggering on its own, and the timeline makes it more so. Walter purchased his controlling interest from the Buss family in June 2025 at a then-record valuation of approximately $10 billion, which means the franchise has appreciated by $2.5 billion in roughly 14 months while changing hands twice.
For a fan base that watched one family run the team for 46 years, the pace of change at the very top has become its own story.
How the sale came together
Kushner and Iger did not begin this process trying to buy the Lakers at all. The two had been pursuing an expansion franchise in Las Vegas before redirecting their attention toward Los Angeles and approaching Walter about the sport’s most valuable prize instead.
The two sides moved quickly once contact was made, with the initial approach reportedly coming Sunday, and Walter was not actively shopping the team when the offer arrived.
The buyers framed their intentions around continuity with the franchise’s history rather than disruption of it.
Statement to ESPN from Josh Kushner and Bob Iger:
“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. We have immense respect for the leadership and vision of Jerry… https://t.co/IMvaW0Iolr
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) August 12, 2026
Walter, for his part, exited with gratitude rather than explanation. In a statement released through ESPN, he reflected on his brief tenure atop the franchise.
“Owning the Los Angeles Lakers has been one of the great honors of my life,” Walter said.
Who Josh Kushner and Bob Iger are
Kushner, 41, is the founder of the venture capital firm Thrive Capital and a co-founder of the health insurance company Oscar Health. He is no stranger to NBA ownership circles, having previously held a minority stake in the Memphis Grizzlies, and he bought a stake of less than five percent in the Miami Heat last year.
That Heat position now becomes a housekeeping item, as he will need to sell it to take control of the Lakers. Sports ownership runs in the family in more ways than one, since his wife, Karlie Kloss, holds a limited partnership stake in the WNBA’s New York Liberty.
Kushner is also the younger brother of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, a connection that dominated much of the immediate fan reaction Wednesday.
Iger, 75, is one of the most accomplished media executives of his generation, having served two separate stints as CEO of the Walt Disney Company before being succeeded this year by Josh D’Amaro. He arrives with sports ownership experience of his own, as he and his wife, Willow Bay, have been controlling owners of Angel City FC since 2024.
The endorsements from Lakers royalty came fast, with Magic Johnson vouching for a relationship with Iger that stretches back four decades.
Laker fans, you couldn’t have two better owners. 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.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) August 12, 2026
The Jeanie Buss question
The most important unresolved detail for the day-to-day direction of the franchise involves the woman who ran it for the previous decade. When Walter agreed to buy the Lakers in June 2025, Marc Stein reported Wednesday, it was stipulated in writing that Jeanie Buss would remain the team’s operating governor for five years.
14 months into that arrangement, the franchise has been sold again, and now there needs to be clarity how the leadership structure will look under Kushner and Iger. Nothing in the initial reporting suggests Buss is being pushed out, and the buyers went out of their way to praise the family’s stewardship in their statement.
But a written stipulation negotiated with Walter does not automatically explain how a new ownership group will operate, and until someone addresses it directly, the question of who actually runs basketball operations decisions at the top of the organization remains the story to watch.
Mark Walter’s 14 months and the timing of the sale
Walter’s tenure as controlling owner will go down as one of the shortest and most profitable in the history of American sports. He agreed to buy the team at a $10 billion valuation in June 2025, took over operational control last October and has now agreed to sell at a $12.5 billion valuation, a gain of $2.5 billion on paper in less than a year and a half of stewardship.
The Buss family, for context, bought the franchise in an era when the entire operation cost $67.5 million, which is what Dr. Jerry Buss paid in 1979. The sale also lands against a backdrop Lakers Daily readers already know well.
Walter’s business empire has spent the summer under federal scrutiny, with prosecutors examining whether loans tied to his companies were properly disclosed — the investigation detailed in the federal investigation into Mark Walter’s companies and the subsequent reporting that the FBI seized Walter’s phone and laptop.
It is worth being precise here: No reporting has connected the investigation to the decision to sell, and the probe has not been cited as a reason for the transaction, while Walter’s companies have denied wrongdoing throughout. The timeline is simply the timeline, and readers can hold both facts at once.
Walter is not exiting Los Angeles sports, either. He is retaining the Dodgers and neither the Dodgers nor the WNBA’s Sparks are part of this transaction.
What it means for Luka Doncic and the roster
The franchise Kushner and Iger are buying is in the middle of its own transition on the court. The Lakers went 53-29 last season, earned the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference and beat the Rockets in the first round before falling to the Thunder in the conference semifinals.
This offseason brought the departure of LeBron James to Philadelphia after eight seasons and the full handover of the franchise to Luka Doncic, who responded to Wednesday’s news with a message that should calm any nerves about how the face of the franchise is processing another seismic change.
Being a Laker means everything to me, and I’m excited to get back on the court and bring a championship to LA. 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…
— Luka Dončić (@lukadoncic) August 12, 2026
That is ultimately the lens through which this sale will be judged in Los Angeles. The Lakers have won 17 championships, second only to the Celtics’ 18, and the fan base’s patience for ownership drama extends exactly as far as the front office’s willingness to build a contender around a 27-year-old superstar entering his prime.
Kushner and Iger just paid a record price for the right to be measured against that standard, and once the Board of Governors signs off, the clock starts immediately.
