A deal has landed in the sports world so large it makes every previous franchise sale look like a garage transaction. The Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most decorated and commercially powerful basketball teams on the planet, are being acquired in a reported $12.5 billion agreement by Josh Kushner and former Disney chief executive Bob Iger. The sheer scale of the number is staggering, but the names attached to it are equally attention-grabbing.
A Sale That Rewrites the Record Books
No sports franchise anywhere in the world has ever changed hands at this kind of valuation. Twelve and a half billion dollars, which converts to roughly £9.3 billion, puts this transaction in a category that barely has a name yet. For context, the previous landmark NBA sale felt historic at the time. This one obliterates it entirely.
What makes the timing even more remarkable is how soon this is happening. Mark Walter, the financier who acquired a majority stake in the Lakers from the Buss family in a deal that the NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved in October 2025, is now offloading that controlling interest less than a year later. His reported buy-in was valued at approximately $10 billion. The markup in under twelve months tells you everything you need to know about where the market on elite sports franchises currently sits, which is: somewhere near the stratosphere.
According to BBC Sport’s report on the deal, Kushner and Iger are set to assume the controlling interest in the franchise, becoming the new stewards of a team that has won seventeen NBA championships and whose brand extends far beyond basketball courts into fashion, culture, and global pop mythology.
Who Are the New Owners?
Josh Kushner is known in business circles as the founder of Thrive Capital, a venture firm with stakes in some of the most significant technology companies of the last decade. He is also the brother of Jared Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump, making Josh a figure adjacent to the orbit of US President Donald Trump’s family. That connection will inevitably attract attention, though the deal is fundamentally a commercial one driven by investment logic rather than political calculation.
Bob Iger needs little introduction. He spent decades at the helm of The Walt Disney Company, overseeing its transformation into the world’s most dominant entertainment corporation. Under his leadership, Disney absorbed Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox, building a content empire that generated billions annually. The man knows what a brand is worth and, crucially, how to grow one. His presence in this deal signals serious long-term ambition.
In a joint statement, the pair said they were “deeply honoured” for the opportunity and pledged their “long-term commitment” to competing at the highest level while serving the team, its fans, and the city of Los Angeles. They also expressed respect for the legacy of Jerry and Jeanie Buss, the family whose fingerprints are all over the Lakers’ most celebrated eras.
The Buss Family’s Fingerprints Remain
The Buss family’s association with the Lakers stretches back decades. Jerry Buss purchased the team in 1979 and presided over a golden age that included the Showtime Lakers of the 1980s, featuring Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and later the Kobe Bryant dynasty of the 2000s. His daughter Jeanie took over as governor after his death and has remained the public face of the franchise through the LeBron James era. The transition away from Buss ownership, which began when Walter bought in last year, now reaches its logical conclusion.
Their legacy, however, isn’t disappearing with the sale. Kushner and Iger specifically invoked the Buss name in their statement, a deliberate signal that they understand what they are inheriting is not just a sports team but a cultural institution with roots that demand respect.
What This Means for the NBA’s Future
The NBA has watched franchise valuations climb at a pace that would have seemed absurd a generation ago. The league’s global appeal, driven by players like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and a younger generation of international stars, has turned basketball into a genuinely worldwide product. Media rights deals have grown accordingly, and private equity money has been circling the sport with increasing appetite.
A $12.5 billion Lakers sale doesn’t just set a new ceiling. It sets a new floor for how seriously billionaires will now bid on top-tier franchises. Owners of other major market teams will be watching the Lakers’ next chapter with a mixture of curiosity and competitive anxiety. If Iger applies even a fraction of his Disney-era thinking to how the Lakers are branded, packaged, and monetised globally, this could become a case study in 21st-century sports business within a few years.
LeBron James and the On-Court Question
Any conversation about the Lakers’ future has to include a word about the basketball side of things. The team’s roster construction, its coaching staff, and its strategy in the free agent market will all fall under new ownership oversight. Whether Kushner and Iger take an active role in basketball decisions or empower an existing front office structure remains to be seen, but fans will be watching closely. Championships, after all, are still the ultimate currency in Los Angeles.
A City, a Brand, a Billion-Dollar Bet
Los Angeles is one of those rare cities where sports, entertainment, celebrity, and commerce exist in permanent, intoxicating collision. The Lakers sit at the very centre of that world. Purple and gold is not just a colour scheme. It is a shorthand for something aspirational, something that connects schoolkids playing pickup games to Oscar winners sitting courtside at Crypto.com Arena.
For Kushner and Iger, this purchase is not merely an investment in a basketball team. It is a bet on the enduring power of a brand that has outlasted trends, survived roster upheavals, and remained relevant across generations. At $12.5 billion, that bet is either one of the smartest in sports history or the most expensive wake-up call anyone has ever bought. Given the track records of the men writing the cheque, the smart money is on the former.
So here’s the question worth sitting with: as sports franchises are valued like tech unicorns and purchased by media moguls and venture capitalists, does the soul of the game change along with the price tag, or does the culture around basketball prove resilient enough to survive the age of billion-dollar ownership?
