Lakers sold to Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger for $12.5 billion in record deal

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Lakers have been sold to Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger in a major shakeup for the 17-time NBA champions and a stunning record-setting deal that comes just months after the team was purchased by Dodgers owner Mark Walter.

An agreement was reached to purchase the Lakers for a record $12.5 billion, ESPN reported.

Walter purchased the Lakers from the Buss family last year for a then-record franchise valuation of approximately $10 billion. He still owns the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Sparks and English Premiere League side Chelsea.

The deal requires the approval of the NBA's board of governors. The panel is scheduled to meet in New York next month.

Kushner, 41, founded venture capital firm Thrive Capital. The brother of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, is a minority owner of the Miami Heat and previously had a stake in the Memphis Grizzlies.

He attempted to buy the World Cup operations from FIFA last month before a deal was scrapped.

Iger, 75, was Disney's CEO before his term ended earlier this year. In 2024, he became the controlling owner of NWSL team Angel City FC in Los Angeles.

Word of the deal came as a surprise, given Walter's purchase of the team just 10 months ago and optimism among fans that his success with the Dodgers might cross sports lines to the basketball court. The Dodgers are enjoying the most successful stretch in franchise history, with three World Series championships in the past six seasons as baseball's most aggressive spenders on the free agent market.
The Lakers most recent title was 2020 at the end of a pandemic-shortened season. (Source: NBC Los Angeles)