Buss family to sell Lakers to Mark Walter for $10B valuation

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, the most 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 told ESPN.

Also, Jeanie Buss will continue to serve in her role as Lakers governor, according to sources.

Walter, the CEO and chairman of diversified holding company TWG Global, has interests in multiple professional sports organizations, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Sparks, the Billie Jean Cup, Cadillac Formula 1 team 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 that also included the Los Angeles Kings and the Los Angeles Forum. Since 1980, the Lakers have won 11 championships, the most by any NBA team during that span.

The Lakers passed to Buss’ children when he died in 2013, and his daughter Jeanie has served as the Lakers’ governor since.

Walter has been a stakeholder in the Lakers since 2021, when he also received a right of first refusal on the majority share of the team.

Franchise legend Magic Johnson, who is part of Walter’s investment group that purchased the Dodgers in 2012, endorsed the move in a series of social media posts, noting Lakers fans should be “ecstatic.”

“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!” Johnson wrote in one of several posts on X. “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. I am so so SO happy and excited for @Lakers fans all over the world!!”

The Lakers have been in the control of the Buss family for 46 years, the longest of any current NBA franchise. Herb Simon bought the Indiana Pacers — currently in the NBA Finals — in 1983, the second-longest current ownership of an NBA club.

The purchase agreement was preceded by two of Jeanie Buss’ closest confidants in the NBA governors community agreeing to sales for their teams in the past two years: Mark Cuban sold a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks for $3.5 billion in 2023, and Wyc Grousbeck sold the Boston Celtics for $6.1 billion about three months ago.

ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Dave McMenamin, ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.