Mark Walter to take over command of Lakers

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The Buss family is entering into an agreement to sell majority ownership of the National Basketball Association (NBA) team Los Angeles Lakers to Mark Walter for a franchise valuation of approximately $10 billion, the highest ever for a US professional sports franchise.

‘ESPN’ stated that the Buss family will keep a minority share of the team, just over 15 percent, for a period of time, a source said.

The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles (US). The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference.

The 20,000-capacity Crypto.com Arena is a multipurpose indoor arena in downtown Los Angele (US). It opened on October 17^th, 1999 and serves as the home arena of the Los Angeles Lakers.

New York (US)-based the National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams. The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional basketball league in the world.

‘ESPN’ further stated that 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 said. 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 head honcho and Chairman of the diversified holding company TWG Global, has been a stakeholder in the Lakers since 2021 when he purchased Phil Anschutz’s share of
26 percent. That also was when Walter received a right of first refusal on the majority share of the team.

Walter and TWG Global have interests in multiple professional sports organizations including the Major League Baseball (MLB) team Los Angeles Dodgers, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) team Los Angeles Sparks, the Premier League team Chelsea F.C., and the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

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. 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 the 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.

The intended sale to Walter was approved by the Buss siblings through a majority vote.

The Lakers star Luka Dončić (Slovenian basketball player), acquired in the blockbuster February trade that sent Anthony Davis to the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, was given a short heads-up on the purchase agreement.

The franchise legend Magic Johnson, a business partner of Walter’s and someone close to Jeanie Buss, endorsed the move in a series of social media posts noting that the Lakers fans should be “ecstatic”.

Johnson posted on X, “Mark Walter is the best choice and will be the best caretaker of the Laker brand. The proof is in the pudding on what he’s been able to accomplish with the LA Dodgers. Mark has been nothing short of a winner notching two World Series and 11 NL West divisional titles in the last 12 years!”

The Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts said news of the sale to Walter marks “a very exciting day for the Lakers, for the City of Los Angeles. He’s very competitive and he’s going to do everything he can to produce a Championship-caliber team every single year and make sure the City feels proud about the Lakers and the legacy that they’ve already built with the Buss family.”

Johnson said he is certain Jeanie Buss made the deal only after being convinced that Walter will do right by the Lakers.

Added Johnson, “A few things I can tell you about Mark – he is driven by winning, excellence and doing everything the right way. AND he will put in the resources needed to win. I can understand why Jeanie sold the team to Mark Walter because they are just alike – they are competitive people, have big hearts, love to give back, and both prefer to be behind the scenes. This makes all the sense in the world.”

Walter, known for shunning the spotlight, is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the financial services firm Guggenheim Partners, which is estimated to have more than $325 billion in assets. Johnson is among Guggenheim’s investors.

The Lakers have been in the control of the Buss family for 46 years, the longest ownership of any current NBA franchise.

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