The partner buying the Los Angeles Lakers (LA Lakers) is billionaire Mark Walter, Chairman of TWG Global – who is a major shareholder of the Lakers with 26% of shares purchased in 2021. This will be the largest acquisition in the history of American sports.

The Buss family owns 66% of the LA Lakers and has decided to keep a minimum stake of 15%. Jeanie Buss will remain as President of the club for at least another year and possibly longer until Walter has established his organization at the Lakers.

Jeanie’s father, Jerry, bought the Lakers franchise from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979 for $67.5 million. The Buss family has spent nearly half a century running the team and helping to change the face of the NBA.

With his vision and investment skills, Jerry Buss created the golden age of the Lakers with the top stars in NBA history such as Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Byron Scott, Michael Cooper. The next generation has Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Pau Gasol and more recently Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Luka Doncic. The Lakers have won a total of 17 NBA championships, just one short of the record of the Boston Celtics – a team recently valued at 6.1 billion USD.

Jerry died in 2013 and ownership of the Lakers was transferred to a trust controlled by his six children, all of whom worked for the Lakers in various capacities. In 2017, they reached an agreement to make Jeanie President, after a legal battle in court. According to ESPN , the deal to sell the Lakers was approved by a majority vote of the Buss siblings.

Legendary Magic Johnson , Jeanie’s close associate, confirmed the deal in a social media post. Lakers’ biggest stars James and Doncic were also briefed on the deal.

Chairman Walter’s TWG Global is known for its savvy investments in sports empires. Before the Lakers, the company held large stakes in other famous clubs such as the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, the Billie Jean Cup tennis tournament, the Cadillac F1 racing team and Chelsea FC in the Premier League.