Fulfilling almost every American boy’s dream, Bob Iger has bought himself a big city sports franchise.
The ex-Disney CEO and Josh Kushner’s Thrive Capital have scored the L.A. Lakers for $12.5 billion, Deadline has confirmed.
“As lifelong NBA fans, we are deeply honored for the opportunity to become stewards of the Los Angeles Lakers one of the most iconic sports franchises in the world,” courtside regular Iger and Kushner said in a statement Wednesday. “We have immense respect for the leadership and vision of Jerry and Jeanie Buss. Our long-term commitment is to build on that foundation, compete at the highest level, and serve this extraordinary team, its fans, and the city of Los Angeles.”
After two stints as Disney boss, Iger exited the CEO seat in March. He rejoined Thrive as an advisor in April, setting the court for today’s bg news.
And it has been a true whirlwind for the multi-championship winning Lakers the past year — and we’re not just talking about LeBron James leaving and joining the 76ers.
Angel City FC stakeholder Iger and the once FIFA touted financial player (and Donald Trump family member by marriage) Kushner take a controlling interest in the one-time home of Magic, Shaq, and Kobe from Mark Walter just over a year after the Guggenheim Partners CEO bought the Lakers from the Buss family for $10 billion. and the controlling owner of MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers,
The subject of a federal investigation over his finances, Walter (who denies any impropriety) also owns Los Angeles Dodgers and has interest in several other sports teams around the globe. In terms of finance, Iger and Kushner’s purchase of the Lakers would be the highest valuation ever for a sports team — at least under Jerry Jones actually sells the NFL‘s Dallas Cowboys.
Back in 2024, Iger and superstar spouse Willow Bay snared a controlling interest in L.A.’s Angel City FC for $250 million. At the time that was the richest valuation on any women’s sports team ever. Even though Disney under Iger was the first big media outlet to bend the knee to Trump in a $16 million settlement over a widely regarded weak suit against ABC News by the then incoming president, Angel City has been a loud and strong advocate for immigrants rights amidst ICE abductions and more in LA.
Disney-owned ESPN first broke the news of the Lakers’ new owners.
The upcoming NBA season, with Iger expected to be front and center in DTLA, starts on October 20 with a triple header of the Boston Celtics vs the powerful Detroit Pistons, followed by current champs the NY Knicks up against the 76ers (with LeBron’s debut for the Philly team). The night will end with the San Antonio Spurs battling the Oklahoma City Thunder. In a season that sees games on NBC/Peacock, Amazon Prime Video and ESPN, the openers will be on the still Comcast-owned outlets. ABC and ESPN still hold the exclusive rights to the NBA Finals, so there’s a good chance Iger will be back at Disney in a form of fashion after all.
