Lakers Sold for Record $10 Billion
The LA Lakers just changed hands for a mind-blowing $10 billion. Mark Walter, the Dodgers owner who's not afraid to spend big, bought the franchise from the Buss family in what's officially the largest sports deal in history.
Story by:
Editorial Dept.
The Lakers are no longer a Buss family operation, and they just got sold for a staggering $10 billion dollars.
Let that sink in for a moment. Mark Walter, the guy who owns the Dodgers, just wrote what has to be the biggest check in sports history to buy the purple and gold from the Buss family. And honestly? It’s about time someone with deep pockets took over.
The deal went down Tuesday, and it makes the Celtics’ $6.1 billion sale from earlier this year look like pocket change. Jeanie Buss gets to stick around as governor, but make no mistake—this is the end of an era that started when her dad Jerry bought the team for a measly $67.5 million back in ’79.
Do the math on that return, and you’ll need a calculator with a lot of zeros.
Walter Has Money to Burn (And He’s Not Afraid to Spend It)
If you follow baseball, you know exactly what Lakers fans are getting excited about. Walter doesn’t mess around when it comes to winning. Since he and his group bought the Dodgers for $2.15 billion in 2012, they’ve blown past baseball’s luxury tax like it’s a speed limit suggestion. Two World Series rings later, nobody’s complaining about the strategy.
The guy’s worth about $12 billion according to Forbes, runs Guggenheim Partners (which manages more money than some countries’ GDP), and apparently collects sports teams like some people collect vintage cars. He’s got pieces of Chelsea FC, owns a women’s hockey league, and has his fingers in everything from Formula 1 to NASCAR.
But here’s the kicker—Walter already owned 27% of the Lakers since 2021. This wasn’t some hostile takeover or bidding war. The guy had first dibs written into his contract when he bought that minority stake from Philip Anschutz. Smart move, in hindsight.
The Buss Family Cashes Out
Look, nobody wants to speak ill of the Buss family legacy, but let’s be real here. Running a championship-caliber NBA team in 2025 isn’t the same as it was in the Showtime era. The money required now is insane, and the Buss kids were feeling the squeeze.
Sure, they were each pulling down about $10 million a year from team profits, but that’s not exactly “buy Anthony Davis and keep him happy” money when you factor in luxury taxes and supporting cast needs. Remember when they let Alex Caruso walk to Chicago over what amounted to pocket change for other franchises? That stung. A lot.
Jerry Buss was brilliant with his estate planning—he prepaid the taxes and set up the family trust to avoid the usual inheritance nightmares that force sales. But six kids splitting control of one asset, even a massively valuable one, creates its own problems. The 2017 power struggle between Jeanie and her brothers Jim and Johnny was just the tip of the iceberg.
This sale solves everything. The family gets generational wealth, Walter gets his crown jewel franchise, and Lakers fans get an owner who’s already proven he’ll spend whatever it takes to win.
What This Means for the Lakers (Spoiler: It’s Good)
Here’s where things get interesting. Walter’s management style with the Dodgers has been pretty hands-off—hire the best people, give them unlimited resources, then get out of the way. Stan Kasten runs the business side, Andrew Friedman handles baseball operations, and Walter signs the checks.
Rob Pelinka’s job as Lakers GM just got a whole lot more interesting. His recent contract extension looked like job security, but when new ownership takes over, all bets are off. Walter might keep him around, or he might bring in his own guy. Either way, the budget constraints that have handcuffed Lakers management for years are about to disappear. Also, they happen to have one of the best players on the planet, the 26-year-old Slovenian wunderkind Luka Doncic, under team control for one more season before he can opt out of his contract and command a supermax.
The NBA approval process is mostly a formality at this point. Walter’s already been vetted and approved by the league for his minority stake, and he’s got the kind of squeaky-clean reputation that makes commissioner Adam Silver sleep well at night.
Expect major upgrades to everything—analytics departments, player development, training facilities, you name it. The Lakers have been coasting on their brand name while other franchises invested in infrastructure. That changes now.
By The Numbers
Ten billion dollars for a basketball team. Let me say that again: ten billion dollars.
Sportico had the Lakers valued at around $4.2 billion earlier this year, so Walter just paid more than double that. But honestly, when you’re dealing with the Lakers’ global brand and the Los Angeles market, normal valuation metrics go out the window.
Compare this to other recent sales: the Celtics went for $6.1 billion to Bill Chisholm’s group, the Suns sold for $4 billion, and the Mavericks went for $3.5 billion. The Lakers just lapped the field.
The crazy part? Average NBA team values have hit $4.6 billion this year, up 15% from last year and double what they were just four years ago. The new TV deals are pumping serious money into the league, and franchise values are going parabolic.
Walter’s bet is that the Lakers are more than just an NBA team—they’re a global entertainment brand that happens to play basketball. Given their worldwide following and championship history, he might be right.
One More Showtime…?
This is the best thing that could have happened to the Lakers and their fans. Walter’s got the money, the track record, and the willingness to spend what it takes to compete for championships. The Buss family gets to cash out at the absolute peak of franchise values, and Lakers fans get an owner who’s already proven he knows how to build winners.
The only question now is how quickly Walter can turn the Lakers back into the championship machine they used to be. Based on what he’s done with the Dodgers, I wouldn’t bet against him.
Header Image Courtesy Flickr/Michael Tipton
Comments 0
No Readers' Pick yet.