Mark Walter, Josh Kushner agree on $12.5B Lakers sale

The deal got done in person. Walter and Kushner sat down Thursday at Walter's home in Florida and settled what was left.

Ramona Shelburne

@ramonashelburne

Los Angeles Lakers owner Mark Walter and Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner have agreed on all outstanding terms of the sale of the Lakers at a $12.5 billion valuation, sources close to the negotiations told ESPN. The two men met in person Thursday at Walter’s home in Florida to finalize the transaction and are expected to sign the formal agreement soon, those sources said. Once the agreement is signed, it will be reviewed by the NBA. That process generally takes some time as the league reviews financing and ownership structure. Sources close to the negotiations said that Kushner has assured Walter he’s raised all the money necessary to complete the sale. t.co/JrqSEYmDkP

This one has moved fast from the start. In mid-August Kushner called Walter with a $12.5 billion offer. That's 25% more than the $10 billion Walter paid for the team just 14 months earlier. Walter turned down the first feeler, then agreed with Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger within about 72 hours, and the sale went public on August 12. Walter is now flipping the most famous franchise in the sport for a $2.5 billion paper gain in barely over a year. Nobody in the history of buying basketball teams has had a better year.

The question hanging over a number like $12.5 billion is whether the buyers can actually pay it. According to ESPN, Kushner has assured Walter he has raised all the money he needs to close. And Dan Woike backed up the idea that money isn't the hold-up.

Dan Woike

@DanWoikeSports

There’s a note in here that I can confirm. According to multiple sources with knowledge, not authorized to speak publicly, there aren’t issues “finding money” for the $12.5 billion sale.

Ben Horney

@BenHorney

SCOOP: Josh Kushner & Bob Iger have been offering Lakers minority stakes to investors starting at $250M each as they build out their ownership group. That's the entry point. Some investors will put significantly higher amounts into the deal. Story @FOS: t.co/DO9GVJ8zPf

That matters, because the next stop is the NBA. Once the agreement is signed, the league reviews it, and that process usually takes time as the league picks through the financing and the ownership structure. When the backers line up behind the bid matters a lot less than whether the league is comfortable with who they are. Kushner and Iger aren't new to the league office, though. For much of 2026 they had been leading a group bidding for a possible Las Vegas expansion team, and they pivoted to the Lakers as that price climbed toward $10 billion.

Not everybody in LA is celebrating. Jeanie Buss found out about the sale hours before ESPN broke it in August. Her 5 siblings voted to use their go-along rights to sell the family's remaining stake, and Jeanie was the only one who opposed it. That fight is headed to court, with a date set for December 8 if nobody settles first. So Walter and Kushner can shake hands in Florida all they want. The Buss family's piece is still tied up in court.

Then there's Luka Doncic. He was assured by Jeanie that she'd keep running basketball decisions, and he's now looking at his 5th ownership change in 3 years across 2 franchises. What to watch next: the signature, the length of the league's review, and whether the Buss family settles before December. Whoever owns the Lakers next spring, the guy wearing the jersey has every reason to wonder who he's actually playing for.