The Los Angeles Lakers are entering a new era after, in principle, a record-breaking sale of the franchise has been agreed.
LA Lakers is on the verge of closing out an astounding sale to new owners. Mark Walter and the TWG Group have agreed to a $10 billion deal with the Bass Family.
TWG was already the owner of a minority and was the first to refuse if the bus family chose to sell. That time has arrived.
The Bus Family has owned the Lakers since 1979, and Jeannie Bus is set to remain governor.
The acquisition of Mark Walter is welcomed by the team’s legendary Magic Johnson. He takes the franchise to a new level in favor of the new owner.
Mark Walter is the majority owner of La Dodgers and has been the LA Lakers minority owner since 2021.
But if he had his own way, he would have already been an investor in the Lakers city rival, the LA Clippers.
Walter was part of a consortium bidding for the LA Clippers in 2014, led by media mogul David Geffen.
“Geffen’s group also includes Guggenheim Partner CEOs Mark Walter and President Todd Bouley,” Reuters said at the time.
The bid was about $1.5 billion. The team was eventually sold to current Clippers owner Steve Ballmer for around $2 billion.
This comes two years after Walter’s Guggenheim Baseball Management acquired MLB team The La Dodgers in 2012 for $2.15 billion.
Under the guidance of Mark Walter, the LA Dodgers won two MLB titles in 2020 and more recently in 2024.
Their 2020 success ended a 32 year drought, with previous titles returning in 1988.
The La Lakers recently won the title in 2020, finishing as the third seed in the 2024/25 season, but fell in the first round of the NBA playoffs.