Kushner and Iger Acquire Lakers in Record $12.5 Billion Deal

American businessmen Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner have reached an agreement to purchase the National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Lakers from Mark Walter for $12.5 billion. The transaction, first reported by ESPN and confirmed by multiple sources, establishes a new record for the most expensive sale of a sports franchise in history.

The deal concludes Walter’s ownership of the franchise after less than a year. Walter acquired a controlling interest in the Lakers in October 2025 for approximately $10 billion. He is selling the team while retaining other sports interests, marking a rapid turnover for the high-value asset.

This transaction represents the fourth time in four years that a sports franchise has sold for a record-breaking price. The current valuation significantly exceeds the previous high of $10 billion set by Walter’s own purchase of the same team. Prior to 2019, no sports team had sold for even a quarter of the $12 billion figure now agreed upon.

According to research by Sportico, this marks the 24th time in the past six decades that a record has been set for the most expensive sports franchise sale. The first such historic sale occurred in 1964, when CBS purchased a majority interest in the New York Yankees for $13.2 million, equivalent to roughly $140 million in 2026 dollars.

Valuations increased slowly for the next three decades before accelerating in the 1990s. In 1993, a group led by Peter Angelos bought the Baltimore Orioles for a record $173 million, or approximately $405 million in 2026 dollars. By the late 1990s, the value of the most expensive sports team sale had roughly quadrupled compared to 1993 levels.

The trend of soaring valuations continued into the 2020s. In 2023, Dan Snyder sold the Washington Commanders, then known as the Redskins, for $6.05 billion. Walter’s $10 billion purchase of the Lakers in 2025 broke that record, only to be surpassed by the current deal involving Iger and Kushner.

Historical data suggests that record-holders in this category do not tend to retain ownership for long periods. With the Lakers now changing hands again within a year of the previous record sale, industry observers note that another record-breaking transaction could occur soon.