Josh Kushner and Bob Iger to buy Lakers for record $12.5 billion

BREAKING: Josh Kushner and Bob Iger are set to buy the Los Angeles Lakers for a record $12.5 billion, the largest valuation ever for a sports franchise, sources say.

Twelve and a half billion dollars for the Lakers. The biggest price ever paid for a sports team.

The buyers are Josh Kushner, the venture capitalist behind Thrive Capital, and Bob Iger, the man who ran Disney twice. Kushner writes cheques for AI startups, Iger built a content empire, and now they want the most famous basketball franchise on the planet.

Here's what made me look twice. Mark Walter bought his majority stake barely a year ago at a ten billion valuation, and the league only approved that in October. Ten months later, the price has jumped two and a half billion. Walter, who also owns the Dodgers, is reportedly facing a federal probe into links between his insurers and affiliated investments. Selling into a record price while regulators are circling is quite the exit.

A year ago ten billion sounded insane. Now it looks like the discount. That's the number to remember.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.

Source Read the original reporting at japantimes.co.jp