Mark Walter takes control of Lakers in record $10 billion deal

Billionaire capitalist Mark Walter is present the bulk proprietor of the Los Angeles Lakers aft the NBA’s Board of Governors approved the determination and the merchantability closed astatine a $10 cardinal valuation. The terms smashes the NBA grounds acceptable successful July for the Celtics astatine $6.1 cardinal and underlines however acold franchise values person climbed. “The Los Angeles Lakers are 1 of the astir iconic franchises successful each of sports,” Walter said, calling it a “privilege to enactment alongside Jeanie Buss” to support standards precocious connected and disconnected the court.

Walter’s sports portfolio already runs deep. He controls MLB’s Dodgers and the WNBA’s Sparks, and done TWG Global holds stakes successful the Billie Jean King Cup, the Cadillac Formula 1 team, and the Professional Women’s Hockey League, with further ownership successful Chelsea F.C. The determination concentrates a uncommon premix of marquee teams successful 1 owner’s hands crossed aggregate leagues and markets.

Buss stays astatine the helm

The Buss household retains much than 15% of the Lakers, and Jeanie Buss volition stay squad politician for astatine slightest 5 years, overseeing regular operations “for the foreseeable future,” according to the club. “He has demonstrated clip and clip again his committedness to bringing championships to Los Angeles,” Buss said of Walter, adding she is “beyond excited” astir what comes next. NBA commissioner Adam Silver praised some sides, calling Walter “a committed steward” and thanking the Buss household for “46 years of transformational enactment and service.”

The $10 cardinal tag reflects the Lakers’ planetary pull, premium media footprint, and the scarcity of blue-chip franchises. Walter has a grounds of paying up early; his $2.15 cardinal Dodgers acquisition successful 2012 looked bold past and present appears prescient arsenic valuations surged. For fans, day-to-day continuity nether Buss should dependable the transition. For the league, the merchantability reaffirms that apical brands successful large markets tin fetch prices erstwhile thought outlandish, reshaping expectations for aboriginal transactions.