The Lakers are altering palms — for a sky-high price ticket.
The Buss household entered into an settlement to promote its majority stake within the Lakers for roughly $10 billion to businessman Mark Walter, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Wednesday.
It’s the largest-ever sale for a sports activities group, Sportico reported.
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The Athletic reported the sale might attain $12 billion in worth.
Walter, who can be the first proprietor of the Dodgers, is the founder and CEO of TWG International, a multinational conglomerate holding firm.
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Walter additionally has pursuits in a number of different skilled sports activities groups and enterprises, together with the Los Angeles Sparks, Chelsea FC, the Billie Jean Cup, the Cadillac Formulation 1 group and the Skilled Girls’s Hockey League.
Jeanie Buss will stay in her place because the franchise’s governor after the sale, Charania famous.
The Buss household has seen the worth of the Lakers skyrocket since Jerry Buss acquired the franchise for $67.5 million in 1979, and now will get to reap the advantages of that buy 46 years later.
When Jerry Buss died in 2013, his possession stake within the franchise transferred to his six youngsters, with Jeanie assuming the function because the group’s governor.
The deal comes after two different extremely valued NBA franchises had been lately bought — the Mavericks and Celtics.
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Longtime proprietor Mark Cuban bought his majority stake within the Mavs in late 2023 to the Adelson household for $3.5 billion, though he retained roughly 27 p.c within the group.
In March, Wyc Grousbeck bought his controlling stake within the Celtics to William Chisholm for $6.1 billion.
Walter has been probably the most keen spenders in MLB with the Dodgers, which have the second-highest lively payroll in baseball at over $223 million, per Spotrac.
Lakers legend and former part-owner Magic Johnson chimed in in regards to the settlement, posting on X: “Job effectively performed to my sister Jeanie Buss for hanging an unbelievable deal and choosing the right individual to hold on the @Lakers legacy and custom of profitable.
“Mark Walter, my enterprise associate and good friend! Mark Walter is your best option and would be the finest caretaker of the Laker model. The proof is within the pudding on what he’s been capable of accomplish with the LA Dodgers.
“Mark has been nothing wanting a winner notching 2 World Sequence and 11 NL West divisional titles within the final 12 years!”
This text first appeared on The New York Submit and was reproduced with permission.