Billionaire Mark Walter, set to own controlling stake in Lakers, built fortune in investing
Walter received an undergraduate degree in business administration from Creighton University and a law degree from Northwestern University, but ultimately chose business over a career in law.
In the mid-1990s, he co-founded Liberty Hampshire, an investment management firm in Chicago. That business became part of Guggenheim Partners, which Walter co-founded in the late 1990s.
Advertisement
In addition to Guggenheim, Walter co-founded TWG Global with film producer Thomas Tull. The company holds a portfolio of finance and insurance sector companies, including Guggenheim Investments, Guggenheim Securities, Group 1001 Insurance and Delaware Life. It also includes aerospace and defense technology company Shield AI.
Last month, TWG Global announced a partnership with Palantir Technologies and Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, maker of Grok, aimed at developing artificial intelligence for use in the financial services industry.
TWG Global also includes investments in sports, media and entertainment franchises, such as the controlling interest in the Los Angeles Dodgers, Premier League club Chelsea, the Professional Women's Hockey League and — through TWG Motorsports — ownership of several auto racing teams including Cadillac Formula 1.
Advertisement
Beyond business, Walter and his wife, Kimbra, have founded or contributed to various philanthropic organizations, including the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, the Academy Group, Chicago Beyond and OneGoal.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Napoli launch £25.6m bid as Brighton consider midfielder sale
Napoli Table £25.6m Offer for Brighton Midfielder Matt O'Riley Napoli lead pursuit of Brighton midfielder Brighton's commitment to strategic recruitment and development continues to draw attention from Europe's elite. According to Sky Sports, Napoli have made a formal offer of £25.6 million (€30 million) for Matt O'Riley, placing them at the front of a growing queue for the midfielder's signature. Advertisement Negotiations are underway, with Brighton reportedly open to a deal if their valuation is met. While the club still consider O'Riley 'an important part of their project,' the Seagulls are understood to be realistic about the financial opportunities presented by such bids. Photo IMAGO Serie A clubs Atalanta and Roma are also tracking O'Riley, with the latter's new manager Gian Piero Gasperini a long-term admirer. But Napoli are in pole position, pending the sale of André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, who has attracted interest from Saudi Arabia. Premier League midfield reshuffle continues Napoli's midfield now includes familiar Premier League names in Billy Gilmour, Scott McTominay and Kevin De Bruyne, with Stanislav Lobotka still part of the rotation. O'Riley would add depth and flexibility to a squad looking to retain domestic and European competitiveness. Photo IMAGO Advertisement For Brighton, the situation is delicate. Losing another key player to a European powerhouse may be seen as inevitable, yet it still stings for a club striving to establish a lasting top-flight presence. Our View – EPL Index Analysis For Brighton fans, this is yet another frustrating reminder of the club's place in the football food chain. Matt O'Riley represents everything Brighton have done right in recent years — smart scouting, patient development, and a clear tactical role within a progressive system. But if he's sold now, it'll feel like another promising chapter ripped from the book just as it was getting interesting. The timing is particularly painful. After a season of inconsistency, what the team needs is stability, not more turnover. O'Riley offers a rare mix of vision and control, someone who can dictate the tempo in games where Brighton too often drifted. Watching him go to a Napoli midfield already packed with talent like De Bruyne and Lobotka will be a difficult pill to swallow. Yes, £25.6 million is a significant sum, but how much is continuity worth? The club may benefit financially, but the cost to morale and progress could be far steeper. Fans want to build — not rebuild — every summer.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Fabrizio Romano Drops Hint on Liverpool's Striker Pursuit
Liverpool Position Themselves for Hugo Ekitike After Chelsea Cool Interest Liverpool are actively working behind the scenes to reshape their forward line this summer, with the club keen to recruit a new striker amid mounting expectations that Darwin Nunez will depart. According to Fabrizio Romano, Nunez is now 'guaranteed' to leave Anfield, and Napoli are understood to be leading the chase for the Uruguayan forward. Advertisement That exit, long anticipated by many within the club and the fanbase, has prompted Liverpool to step up plans for an elite-level replacement. Despite winning the Premier League title in Arne Slot's first season in charge, there is clear intent to strengthen and evolve, particularly in the attacking third. Ekitike Interest Remains Strong Despite Price Tag Among the most frequently linked names is Hugo Ekitike. The French forward has attracted attention from several top European clubs, with Liverpool showing consistent interest in the 22-year-old since January. Reports indicate that the Reds have been monitoring Ekitike's situation closely, despite hesitation over the €100 million valuation placed on him. Sky Germany's Florian Plettenberg recently confirmed that Liverpool were actively competing with Chelsea for the striker's signature. Advertisement While the fee has proved a stumbling block for many suitors, Liverpool's recruitment department has not been deterred. The club continues to assess their options, with the long-term value and ceiling of Ekitike making him an attractive proposition. Romano Hints at Breakthrough in Pursuit In his latest YouTube update, Fabrizio Romano dropped a noteworthy development that could significantly affect Liverpool's path forward. Romano revealed that Chelsea are now prioritising a move for Brighton's Joao Pedro, a player who has also impressed Liverpool scouts in the past but who has not been pursued formally. Romano said: 'Chelsea are firmly interested in Joao Pedro of Brighton.' Advertisement Crucially, he added that Chelsea have cooled their interest in Hugo Ekitike, largely due to the fee involved. This shift appears to remove one of Liverpool's most significant rivals from the race, offering Arne Slot's team a potentially clear run at the player if they choose to push ahead. This update is being interpreted as a major signal that Liverpool are now favourites for Ekitike, should they decide to table a formal offer. The club's activity behind the scenes suggests that such a move is very much on the table, particularly if priority target Alexander Isak is deemed unavailable. Photo: IMAGO All Eyes on Liverpool's Next Move With the exit door now open for Nunez and Chelsea's interest in Ekitike appearing to cool, Liverpool find themselves in a promising position. The Reds have the financial firepower and Champions League football to tempt the Frenchman, and Arne Slot's project already boasts a title-winning foundation. Advertisement Romano's latest comments are not an outright confirmation, but they serve as the clearest hint yet that Liverpool have edged into pole position for one of Europe's most highly regarded young strikers. As it stands, the decision now appears to rest with Liverpool.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Fer Lopez: Who is he, how does he play and what will he bring to Wolves?
Wolverhampton Wanderers have been here before. A young, Iberian player makes an unexpected move from southern Europe to Molineux with the help of Jorge Mendes, in exchange for a considerable outlay from Wolves. Sometimes it works out fantastically. Sometimes not. Only time will tell which category Fer Lopez falls into, and whether the first new arrival of Wolves' summer is the next Ruben Neves or Diogo Jota, another Goncalo Guedes or Fabio Silva, or somewhere in between. Advertisement The talent of the 21-year-old forward is not in dispute, nor the idea that if Vitor Pereira can unlock it in the Premier League, the initial £19.6million ($26.3m) signing has the potential to be productive for the team and exciting for the fans. 'He is a young man with clear ideas,' says Santi Peon, who follows Celta Vigo for radio station Deportes COPE. 'He is a very good player. He is a shy guy, but a very loved player in the dressing room. 'He is brave. Although he is young, he doesn't refuse contact with more experienced defenders. His best position is behind the striker, so he can play as a winger. He always wants to try to see the opposite goalkeeper.' Lopez's potential is not in doubt. What is a surprise to Celta supporters is the speed with which his form in La Liga has led to a Premier League move. Lopez did not make his debut in Spain's top division until December, catching the eye in a 2-0 victory over Real Mallorca three days after scoring the final two goals in a 7-0 Copa del Rey win over Segunda Division B side Salamanca. Little more than six months later, he is leaving the club he joined when he was 10 to move to a new country, city, club and league. 'Fer's idea was to play next season with Celta,' says Peon. 'Celta is his club, and he wanted to play in the Europa League. 'We knew maybe Fer was one of the players to go out, but not this summer, maybe the next one.' According to reports from AS in Spain, Celta needed to raise considerable funds and Mendes, who is close to both clubs, came up with a solution. Celta agreed to the deal despite criticism from supporters over the sale of an academy graduate who had been seen as heir apparent to Iago Aspas, 37-year-old forward who has spent a decade and a half with the club across two spells. Mendes' influence at Molineux had appeared to be waning in recent years, but seems on the increase again this summer thanks to the presence of one of his clients, Pereira, as head coach and a reorganisation of Wolves' football operations. Advertisement While Wolves supporters will view the arrival of a young Mendes player with a degree of trepidation due to his short top-level resume, the 21-year-old could replicate the success of Jota, who tore up the Championship and Premier League to earn a move to Liverpool, or Neves, who became the club's greatest player since Steve Bull. While any statistics regarding Lopez should be viewed with the caveat about a small sample size — he started just seven league games and featured in 17 in total — his dribbling stats are impressive. Of all players to play 600 or more minutes in La Liga last season, Lopez was 11th for dribbles completed per 90 minutes, close behind some big names. Well before the end of last season, Pereira made clear his desire for ball-carriers in the two positions behind his central striker, and the sale of Matheus Cunha to Manchester United has removed Wolves' best player in one-on-one attacking situations. A look back at clips from La Liga last season suggests Lopez has the potential to fit the bill. He showed his tricks and ball-carrying power in a 1-0 home win against Osasuna in February… … in a 1-1 home draw against Las Palmas in March… … and in a 2-1 home defeat by Rayo Vallecano in May. 'He was brave and not afraid of more experienced players in Primera Division (of La Liga),' says Peon. 'He could be lucky or not, but he was always trying to demonstrate he can play in La Liga.' If Lopez's first-team career is brief, his impact was not unexpected. During more than a decade in Celta's academy, he gained a reputation as a player with flair and strength, which he demonstrated around a month before his senior debut while playing for Celta Fortuna, Celta's reserve team, in a 3-1 defeat by Cultural Leonesa. And his talent and style of play led to comparisons with Aspas, who developed in the Celta academy 20 years earlier and has 190 goals from 434 La Liga appearances for the club. But in an interview in March with AS, Celta coach Claudio Giraldez, who coached Lopez as a youngster before both progressed to the first team, said: 'You have to have the calm and patience to guide each player on their path and not label them, especially when comparing them to someone who is incomparable. Advertisement 'It's not fair to Iago or Fer, although I understand it and we've all done it at some point. 'I see a lot of talent in Fer, but I've also seen very good players who haven't made it into the first team. I was lucky enough to be Iago's contemporary and he had tremendous talent, but there were many other players in that generation. 'We all see Fer has the talent to play in the First Division, and he's proven it, but there are many variables that can affect that prospect.' The task of ensuring Lopez fulfils his potential now falls to Wolves, who have invested heavily in his raw talent in the hope they can turn it into something special.
