June 25 – The Buss household have agreed to promote a majority stake within the Los Angeles Lakers to TWG World CEO Mark Walter, the 2 events confirmed on Wednesday, whereas including that Jeanie Buss will stay governor of the storied NBA franchise.
Monetary phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed however when the information was first reported final week it mentioned the settlement valued the 17-times NBA champion Lakers at $10 billion, making it the largest-ever sale of an expert sports activities crew.
Walter, who has possession pursuits in a number of skilled sports activities groups together with MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, has been a minority proprietor of the Lakers since 2021.
“From the day our father bought the Lakers, we have now been decided to ship what the Metropolis of Los Angeles deserves and calls for: a crew that’s dedicated to profitable – relentlessly – and to doing so with ardour and with fashion,” Buss mentioned in a information launch.
“I’ve gotten to know Mark very effectively over time and been delighted to learn the way he shares those self same values.”
The sale is predicted to shut within the third or fourth quarter of 2025, topic to customary closing situations together with acquiring NBA approval, the 2 events mentioned.
The late Jerry Buss bought the Lakers in 1979 and turned the crew into one of many world’s hottest sports activities franchises, profitable 5 championships throughout their now-iconic “Showtime” period within the Eighties.
By means of the years the Lakers’ rosters have featured world-famous abilities akin to Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James.
Jeanie Buss, who took over as principal proprietor after her father Jerry died in 2013 and have become probably the most highly effective girls in sport, will oversee all crew operations on a day-to-day foundation for the foreseeable future.
“Since Dr Jerry Buss first bought the crew in 1979, they’ve actually set the usual for basketball in a single period after one other, which is why you could find folks anyplace on the earth carrying Lakers shirts and jerseys,” mentioned Walter.
“I love what he, Jeanie and the Buss household have constructed, and I understand how a lot this particular group issues to Southern Californians and to sports activities followers all over the place.
“I even have super respect for Jeanie’s continued dedication to sustaining the Lakers’ long-term imaginative and prescient and elite standing, and I’m excited to work along with her on the subsequent period.”
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