The Buss family is selling a majority ownership stake of the Lakers

USA Today

5 hours ago

The Buss family is selling a majority ownership stake of the Lakers
On Wednesday, during the latter stages of the NBA Finals, some huge news involving the Los Angeles Lakers has broken.
According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Buss family has agreed to sell a majority share of the Los Angeles Lakers to Mark Walter, who is CEO and chairman of diversified holding company TWG Global. However, Jeanie Buss, who has been the governor of the Lakers, will remain in her role.
Via ESPN:
"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 team," Charania wrote.
"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 Jeanie Buss would remain in charge for the foreseeable future, and Walter fully endorsed this plan, according to sources."
The Buss family purchased the Lakers in 1979 from previous owner Jack Kent Cooke. At that time, Buss' father, the late Dr. Jerry Buss, became the owner of the team, and it went on to win the NBA championship the very next season. Four more world titles followed in the next eight seasons, transforming the Purple and Gold from the bridesmaid franchise it had been in the 1960s and 1970s into the gold standard of basketball.
It won another five championships in an 11-season span starting in the 1999-2000 campaign with Kobe Bryant as its driving force, as well as an additional one in 2020 with LeBron James and Anthony Davis leading the way.
Walter's TWG Global owns interests in several other sports franchises, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have won the National League West in 11 of the last 12 years and the World Series in two of the last five Major League Baseball seasons. He has owned a stake in the Purple and Gold since 2021.