Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger filed paperwork to acquire the Los Angeles Lakers for $12.5 billion, pending league approval, according to documents reviewed by Forbes. The price is 58% above the $7.9 billion Mark Walter's group paid in December 2024, making it the most expensive transaction in NBA history and resetting the valuation ceiling for North American sports franchises.
Walter, best known for owning the Los Angeles Dodgers, bought the Lakers from the Buss family trust twenty months ago. The speed of the flip has drawn private questions from other NBA governors about precedent and process, with one owner describing the timeline as "bizarre" in a league where franchises typically change hands on decade-plus cycles. Walter's group declined to comment on the sale rationale. League sources expect the transaction to close by November, following the standard owner vote requiring 23 of 30 approvals.
The $12.5 billion figure carries immediate implications for franchise valuations across major leagues. The Phoenix Suns sold for $4 billion in late 2022; the Washington Commanders went for $6.05 billion in mid-2023. This Lakers sale suggests premium-market NBA teams now command multiples closer to European football's elite clubs than traditional North American comps. Family offices sizing NBA stakes are already recalibrating models. One allocator noted that Kushner and Iger are paying roughly 3.8x revenue—high even for the Lakers' media footprint, but defensible if you believe the next national TV deal eclipses $8 billion annually and the league expands internationally at projected rates. The math works if you're building a 15-year hold around content IP, not gate revenue.
Kushner, 39, runs Thrive Capital with a portfolio spanning Stripe, OpenAI, and Instagram. Iger, 75, stepped down as Disney CEO in late 2023 after orchestrating its streaming pivot and multiple M&A cycles. Neither has prior sports ownership experience, but both bring Rolodexes that extend into streaming distribution, brand partnerships, and Asia-Pacific expansion—three areas where NBA commissioner Adam Silver has publicly prioritized growth. Iger's relationship with Silver dates to Disney's 2012 acquisition of ESPN; Kushner's venture ties give him adjacency to every tech platform bidding on the next NBA rights package. The pairing suggests this is less a vanity play than a calculated media bet wearing a purple-and-gold jersey.
Watch for coordinator-level hires in the Lakers' business operations group by mid-October, particularly anyone with streaming-platform experience. The franchise's current kit deal with Nike runs through 2028; expect early conversations about either an extension or a direct-to-consumer apparel model if Kushner's venture instincts hold. League approval hearings will likely surface details on financing structure—whether Kushner and Iger are using family-office debt, institutional equity, or a blend that could set template for future deals. Silver has hinted at expanding the ownership approval process to include more formal vetting of business plans, not just balance sheets; this transaction will test that.
Mark Walter now holds both the Dodgers and a $4.6 billion profit on a twenty-month Lakers hold, the kind of return that makes patient capital look quaint.