The Lakers Are Being Sold in Massive Sale, per ESPN

The Los Angeles Lakers are set to have a new owner, according to a bombshell report from ESPN. 

Mark Walter, the chairman of diversified holding company TWG Global and primary owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has agreed to purchase majority stake in the Lakers from the Buss family, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Wednesday evening.

Jeanie Buss, who has served as the team's governor since ownership was passed down to the Buss children by her father Jerry upon his death in 2013, will reportedly retain that position after the sale goes through.

In addition to his majority ownership of the reigning World Series champions and the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, Walter is also primary owner of Andretti Global and the Professional Women's Hockey League. 

Additionally, the 65-year-old businessman holds a minority stake in a holding company that controls European soccer clubs Chelsea and RC Strasbourg.

As ESPN's Ramone Shelburne noted, Walter and investment partner Todd Boehly originally purchased 26% ownership of the Lakers from Phil Anschutz in 2021. The deal also gave Walter and Boehly right of first refusal if the Buss family ever wanted to sell its 66% majority stake.

"In other words, this has been positioned to go this way. There are a lot of ties between the Lakers and Dodgers already," Shelburne wrote.

Jerry Buss originally purchased the Lakers from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979 in a $67.5 million transaction that also included the NHL's Los Angeles Kings and Los Angeles Forum.

Under his stewardship, the iconic franchise won five NBA Finals in the 1980s, three in a row from 2000-02 and two more back-to-back in 2009-10. Los Angeles won its most recent championship in 2020 with Jeanie Buss as governor.

The Lakers are coming off a 50-32 season which included a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.