Iger/Kushner Buy Lakers For Record $12.5 Billion Instead Of Trying To Launch NBA Expansion Team In Las Vegas
By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Why try and start an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas when you can acquire one of the sports industry’s most iconic brands, the NBA Los Angeles Lakers?
Heavyweight billionaires Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, who were among the names interested in launching an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas, have bought the Lakers for a stunning $12.5 billion less than a year after the NBA Board of Governors approved Mark Walter’s purchase of the Lakers for $10 million from the Buss family.
Last year, Walter’s $10 billion purchase blew away sports business observers.
Now, the Walter flip has given him a $2.5 billion profit less than ten months later after the NBA board approval in 2025. The Lakers sale also comes at a time when Walter is facing a federal investigation. It’s unknown what role — if any — the federal probe played in the sale of the Lakers franchise.
The Iger/Kushner team surfaced as a player in the NBA expansion sweepstakes in Las Vegas, where Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley and former Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo are competing to start an NBA franchise in Las Vegas.
Iger and Kushner are paying $12.5 billion for the Lakers when the NBA expansion fee numbers have ranged from $7 billion to 11 billion.
So, Iger and Kushner bought the sure thing — the much-decorated Lakers. Iger is the former CEO of Disney (2005-20 and 2022-26). Kushner is the brother of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
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