Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner have submitted a $12.5 billion bid for the Los Angeles Lakers, according to filings reviewed by The Athletic. The transaction would eclipse the $4.65 billion sale of the Phoenix Suns in 2022 and set a new benchmark for North American sports franchise valuations. The Buss family, which has controlled the team since Jerry Buss purchased it for $67.5 million in 1979, filed preliminary sale documentation last week.
The bid structure pairs Iger's media relationships with Kushner's venture capital infrastructure. Iger, who stepped down as Disney CEO in 2023 after orchestrating the $71.3 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox, brings broadcast leverage at a moment when the NBA is negotiating its next media rights package. Kushner's Thrive Capital, which manages $13 billion in assets and holds stakes in Stripe and OpenAI, provides liquidity and tech-sector exposure the league has openly courted. The partnership also includes unnamed family office participants, per people familiar with the structure.
The valuation implies a 168% premium to the Nets' $4.7 billion sale price in 2021, driven by three factors team operators are watching. First, the Lakers' local media rights revert to open negotiation in 2027 when their deal with Spectrum SportsNet expires—Iger's Disney controls ESPN and ABC. Second, the NBA is finalizing a media package expected to exceed $75 billion over nine years, nearly tripling the current $24 billion deal. Third, the franchise owns its arena operating company, AEG's interest in Crypto.com Arena notwithstanding, creating a vertical that the Suns and Nets lacked at sale.
For Kushner, the timing aligns with Thrive's pivot toward hard assets. The firm sold $1.2 billion in public tech holdings in Q2 2025, booking profits ahead of multiple compression. A Lakers stake offers brand access—courtside at Crypto.com Arena remains the densest CEO-per-square-foot real estate in North America—and optionality on sports betting integration, where California's regulatory thaw continues. Kushner's brother-in-law, Jared Kushner, brokered Saudi Arabia's $15 billion commitment to Affinity Partners; whether PIF or other sovereign wealth appears in the Lakers' cap table remains unconfirmed.
Iger's involvement raises questions about potential conflicts given Disney's NBA broadcast position, though league precedent exists: Joe Lacob's venture capital portfolio overlaps with multiple NBA corporate partners. More relevant is Iger's relationship with LeBron James, whose SpringHill Company signed a production deal with Disney in 2020. James, who owns 2% of the Lakers through a separate vehicle, has not commented. The Buss family's decision to sell follows Jeanie Buss's acknowledgment in a February *Forbes* interview that "the next generation has different priorities." Estate tax exposure on a $12.5 billion asset likely accelerated the timeline.
The NBA requires 75% ownership approval for sales above $10 billion—a threshold crossed once, when Mat Ishbia bought the Suns. Commissioner Adam Silver has privately expressed interest in attracting younger, tech-fluent ownership, according to two team presidents who requested anonymity. Kushner, 39, fits that profile. The league office will review the bid structure over the next 90 days, with a vote expected by November. If approved, Iger and Kushner would assume control before the 2026 playoffs.
Watch for three developments. First, whether the buyer group discloses additional limited partners—early chatter includes at least one Emirati family office. Second, the Lakers' head coaching situation: Darvin Ham's contract runs through 2027, but ownership transitions historically trigger front-office reviews within six months. Third, local media strategy: if Disney acquires the Lakers' broadcast rights, it would create the league's first vertically integrated team-network-arena structure, a model Silver has studied since the Dodgers' SportsNet LA disaster. The Buss family has not set a deadline for competing bids, but the $12.5 billion floor now defines the market.
The franchise last changed hands in 1979 for less than the annual salary of its current third-string center.
The takeaway
Iger-Kushner's $12.5B Lakers bid sets a North American record and tests whether tech capital and media leverage can redefine franchise ownership economics.
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