The "Purple Gold Empire" changed hands by 10 billion US dollars

The Lakers are sold for 10 billion, and capital is rewritten by the NBA

On June 19, 2025, a transaction that can be written into the history of world sports was reached, and the NBA's "power map" is about to be rewritten.

According to multiple American media reports, the Los Angeles Lakers, the top NBA giants with 11 championships since the Bass family took over, will soon change hands and usher in a power change. The Bass family will sell most of its control over its 66% stake at a valuation of about $10 billion, and the buyer is Mark Walter, a capital tycoon who has been investing in the Lakers system for many years.

The "Bass Dynasty" that has been in charge of the Lakers for 46 years will come to an end. After the transaction is completed in the second half of this year, the Bass family will retain about 15% of the minority stake, while Walter's shareholding will increase from its existing approximately 27%, becoming the team's new controlling stake.

This is not only the highest-value controlling equity transaction in NBA history, but also a landmark event in the comprehensive transformation of American professional basketball capital logic. From "fan boss" to "private equity trader", the NBA has entered a real financial era.

The Bass family, the end of "The Godfather of Purple Gold", without Jerry Buss, today's Lakers might just be an ordinary Los Angeles team.

In 1979, the real estate investor bought assets such as the Los Angeles Lakers, the NHL Los Angeles Kings and Staples Center (now the Lakers and Kings home court) for $67.5 million. Among them, the Lakers' individual valuation is about $18 million.

Since then, this investor who is well versed in the entertainment industry has transformed the team in the "Hollywood way" - stars, cheerleaders, live lighting, audience stars and fast pace, creating the "Showtime Lakers". Under his leadership, the Lakers won 10 championships and became the golden signboard of NBA commercialization.

The "traditional weight" of the old Buss

In 1996, Jerry Buss made a decision that influenced the Lakers for 20 years: the Lakers' contract of over $100 million ushered in the Magic's abandoned Shaquille O'Neal, and selected 17-year-old Kobe Bryant with the 13th pick. The cooperation between the two created an "OK combination". When the Lakers completed three consecutive championships in 2000-2002, O'Neal, 30, proposed a maximum salary renewal, while Kobe, 24, had just made his business potential. After the Lakers lost the 2004 Finals, Buss chose to trade O'Neal, remove Phil Jackson (the former fiancé of Jerry's eldest daughter Jenny) from his position as head coach, and set Kobe as the core of the team.

This is a typical power adjustment and a re-planning of the direction of capital injection: the Lakers replace the past "heavy burden structure" with their future "core assets", stabilizing the traffic foundation and performance possibilities in the next ten years.

Jim Buss' "risk trial and error": From teenage Bynum to the luxury lineup, the old Buss trained his second sons Jim Buss and Jeanie Buss to take over the Lakers' affairs, mainly supporting Jim Buss into the management. Jim made the decision to select center Bynum in 2005, which was regarded as a "high-risk bet." In 2007, Kobe once put pressure on the management to "force the palace" and demanded that the transaction bet on a more mature ball-handling core (such as Kidd), but Jim insisted on betting on Bynum and was criticized for "holding on paper potential."

After Paul Gasol joined in 2008, the Lakers quickly returned to the Finals for two consecutive championships. Jim formed the "Super F4" (Kobe + Nash + Howard + Gasol) in the 2012-13 season, and was completely criticized for his failure in running-in, Gasol and Kobe were injured one after another, and his record collapsed. After the death of Bass in 2013, Jim took over the Lakers' operations in full, but the team was in rebuilding for many years, and Jim's "heir qualification" encountered a crisis of trust.

Jenny's power counterattack: Complete the handover of control in the name of performance

Jenny Bass has controlled the media public relations, alliance relations and sponsorship system for many years, and has the "soft power" within the family. The reason why Bass, the old man was reluctant to put him in power when he was alive was worried that her ex-fiance, Phil Jackson, would be involved in family affairs. In 2017, the Lakers led by Jim did not make it to the playoffs for three years. She used this as a basis for the joint board of directors to remove her operating position and hired Magic Johnson as president. She used this to establish a new "shareholder alliance" and completed the inclusion of family power.

Then, she restructured the team's financial structure, cleared up high-paying and inefficient contracts, successfully introduced LeBron James, and signed Davis to regain the initiative of win-win both athletics and business.

Kobe: The transition from the throne to the monument

As the central figure in the era of Bass and sons, Kobe tried to participate in the shaping of management influence at many stages. In 2007, he "forced the palace" to deal, but after being seriously injured in 2013, he still received a huge contract renewal, which was interpreted by the outside world as "sexual priority".

After retiring in 2016, he recommended his agent, Rob Pelinka, as general manager, with the intention of "participating in team governance after retirement." Unfortunately, he was killed in a 2020 helicopter accident and became the most symbolic "spiritual totem" in Lakers' history. However, Pelinka climbed up step by step and was appointed as the president of the Lakers in April this year.

Kobe left behind not only five championship trophys, but also a capital game that spans twenty years: he is not only the "traffic engine" of the Lakers, but also an important bargaining chip in the competition for the governance rights of the Bass family.

The Lakers' power change is not a simple family dispute, but a multiple game around capital structure, star dominance and governance model. From Jerry's personal decision-making, to Jim's failed experiments, to Jenny's modern governance, this is a real family capital drama. Stars, managers, boards, trust terms, each link is like a microcosm of the era of sports capitalization. The Lakers are just the first "stadium" to open their doors to Wall Street.

Why sell

The sale of the Bath family seems sudden, but from the perspective of capital logic, there are long history.

After Jerry Bass' death in 2013, his 66% of the Lakers shares were held by his six children through trust. However, it is inevitable that the wealthy families will have a family power struggle. Although Old Buss' eldest daughter Jenny has insisted on holding control of the Lakers for the past 12 years, her siblings have long been inclined to sell. According to ESPN, the deal was finally successful because the other five family members reached an agreement and promoted the deal through a majority vote.

The next generation of the Bass family generally lacks interest in operating the Lakers, and Jenny is over 63 years old and lacks a successor. Selling is not only a means of "making money", but also an exit mechanism for the Bass family. Although the Bass family will lose their controlling stake, Jenny will continue to participate in the operation and management of the Lakers.

By the end of 2024, the average valuation of NBA teams had risen to US$4.4-4.6 billion, while the Lakers' valuation soared to US$10 billion this year, far exceeding the previous high-priced transfer cases of the Celtics and Mavericks. As a top league asset that has not yet been expanded, the Lakers have "unreplicable IP monopoly"; now selling is to maximize the cashing of family wealth.

The "operation threshold" of sports assets has been raised. In the past, the team was a family industry, but now the NBA has long become a global business machine. Owning a team not only requires spending money to recruit people, but also needs to make arrangements in terms of copyright, data, digital licensing, gambling, content distribution, etc. This is too high for a "traditional family".

As an NBA insider said to ESPN: "The wealth of the Bass family is mainly closely linked to the Lakers, and the main source of wealth for most NBA team owners today comes from industries outside of sports." This means that staying at the poker table, either being a financial player or being acquired by a financial player.

From a rural teenager to a capital giant: Mark Walter's sports empire

The 65-year-old new Lakers boss Mark Walter is not from a wealthy family. In 1960, he was born in rural Iowa, the Midwest United States. His father Ed was an ordinary local concrete block factory worker. He loved sports since he was a child and was a fan of the baseball team Chicago Cubs.

Although he was an ordinary person, he received a bachelor's degree in accounting with his outstanding academic talent through scholarships and a doctorate in law (JD) from Northwestern University.

In 1996, he founded the investment company Liberty Hampshire Co, which accumulated his first pot of gold with the success of real estate investment.

In 1999, through the introduction of Todd Moly, CEO of mortgage company Todd Moly, he met the Guggenheim family, the insurance financial giant, and co-founded the "Guggenheim Partners" with him and became its CEO. The private equity giant manages more than $345 billion in assets, spanning multiple tracks such as insurance, credit, infrastructure, and media.

In 2012, Walter founded TWGGlobal, whose businesses involve financial services, insurance, technology, sports, media, entertainment, etc. The company is worth more than US$40 billion. He currently owns about 21% of the company's shares.

Walter is not a "playful" boss. He has a strong "hunter perspective" on sports assets and has long been an active figure on European and American sports capital maps. Since 2012, his acquisition trajectory in the sports circle has been clear and powerful: In 2012, he led the acquisition of the MLB Dodgers for US$2.15 billion, holding about 27% of the shares. Since then, he has invested heavily in training base upgrades, content copyright operation and Latin American market promotion, and his market value has increased nearly five times in ten years; In 2014, he acquired a stake in the WNBA Los Angeles Sparks, holding about 16.7% of the shares; In 2021, he spent US$1.35 billion to acquire approximately 27% of the Lakers' equity and obtained the priority right to majority shares of the Lakers; In 2023, his group announced the establishment of a new professional women's hockey league; In 2022, he and Todd Boehly's Boehly consortium acquired Chelsea in the Premier League; in 2025, he held stakes in Cadillac F1 team and announced his participation in the NBA's "Lakes Holding Battle".

By the end of this year, the Lakers' transaction will be completed, and Mark Walter will soon build a "global IP league" across the NBA, WNBA, MLB, Premier League, and women's hockey, and will continuously enhance control in sports copyright, content distribution, and fan economy.

Why should I buy

For Walter, the Lakers are not only an NBA team, but also a "valuation center" of a global asset network.

Geographical advantages + brand effect

Los Angeles is the most core sports + entertainment dual market in the United States. The Lakers have a world-class fan group, business exposure and brand tension. It is one of the most historically concentrated and star-density teams in the NBA - Magic, Kobe, O'Neal, James. The "Purple Gold Team" itself is the traffic code.

This team has the most expensive tickets, the best sponsorship resources and the most star resources in the world. Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center) is not only a stadium, but also a capital entertainment industrial machine.

Double ceilings of scarcity and traffic

The Lakers are one of the teams with the broadest fan base and the strongest commercial monetization in the NBA. There are huge loyal groups in China, the Philippines, South America and other regions. Kobe, James, Davis, Doncic, every generation of stars has created commercial explosive points in the Lakers.

According to Forbes' 2023 NBA financial list, the Los Angeles Lakers had revenue of $522 million that year, and EBITDA (profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) reached $199 million, ranking among the top in the league. Behind this is the team's extremely high brand influence and content monetization ability worldwide. According to media estimates, its 2024 season's live broadcasts still lead the league, with an advertising share expected to exceed US$100 million. The resilience of James' retirement arrangements, rumors of rising star transactions, and the joining of the new core Doncic have further pushed up market attention and brand premium space.

The strategic closed loop of "content holding"

Walter's asset layout logic is "horizontal supplementary chain":

Doctor is responsible for the local box office in North America + monetization of Japanese and American markets (such as the top salary signing Shohei Otani);

Chelsea are responsible for the continental traffic;

The Lakers undertake the NBA global content pipeline, especially Asia + Latin America;

Women's Hockey League is ahead of schedule to place policy dividends and new consumption trends.

For Walter, what he bought was not the team, but a cultural IP engine that continued to print money around the world.

The beginning of a sports investment storm. This transaction by the Lakers is not an isolated case, but part of a bigger storm.

The Lakers' change of ownership is a typical manifestation of the NBA's "capital structure specialization" trend in recent years. From the past family governance of six members of the Bass family through trust control to now being concentrated in the hands of a consortium-based capital leader, the Lakers' transaction structure has clearly evolved towards "institutionalization, liquidization, and specialization".

Sports have become the entrance to emerging asset allocation.

In the past few years, many teams in the NBA, including the Suns, Mavericks, and Wizards, have undergone equity structure adjustments. The identity of the takeover is enough to illustrate the problem - from sovereign wealth funds, to private equity giants, to emerging wealthy people, sports assets are becoming the new goal of global high-net-worth capital.

The NBA has gradually relaxed the identity restrictions on team investors and allowed institutional investors and multinational consortiums to invest in the team through structured tools (such as fund platforms), marking the comprehensive acceleration of the "financialization reform of the team's capital structure."

In April 2021, private equity fund Arctos Sports Partners successfully acquired about 5% of the Golden State Warriors, with the overall valuation of the team at that time being about US$5.5 billion. Since then, Arctos has continued to make arrangements in the NBA equity market, investing in Harris Blitzer Sports &Entertainment, the parent company of the Sacramento Kings and the Philadelphia 76ers, forming a cross-team and multi-asset platform layout, and rapidly growing into one of the most influential representatives of the "Sports Consortium Capital" in the league.

In July 2021, private equity fund Dyal HomeCourt, the first fund to allow the purchase of NBA team LP shares, completed a minority investment in the Phoenix Suns' parent company, which was valued at about $1.8 billion at the time. At the end of 2022, the Suns transferred their controlling stake at a valuation of US$4 billion, and Dyal achieved a valuation increase of about 1.5 times.

In June 2023, Qatar Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund, acquired approximately 5% of the equity of Monumental Sports& Entertainment, the parent company of the Washington Wizards, through the Arctos platform, with a transaction valuation of US$4.05 billion. This means that Middle Eastern capital is beginning to gain a foothold in North American professional sports assets.

In December 2023, the Miriam Adelson family, the American casino giant, acquired most of the shares of the Dallas Mavericks for $3.5 billion, becoming one of the largest partially controlled transfers in NBA history.

In 2024, Bill Chisholm, managing partner of Symphony Technology Group, acquired the Boston Celtics from the Grosbeck family for $6.1 billion.

Unlike the former star boss "Qingxie Holdings", today's NBA is being redefined by a group of financial players who are well versed in the logic of "asset appreciation + content monetization". Behind this trend is the comprehensive competition for the "full value chain of sports IP": as a content source, traffic platform and social resource aggregator, the team has high compound interest potential. For emerging capital, the team is not only a scarce asset with continuous rising valuations, but also an identity leverage to leverage the international political and business circles, expand media layout and enhance voice.

The starting point of investors has evolved from "love to hold" in the old Bass era to "revenue-driven allocation" in the Walter era.

Conclusion

Holding in 46, with 11 championships, from O'Neal, Kobe to James, Davis, and Doncic, the Bass family personally built the Lakers into the Purple Gold Dynasty.

Selling the Lakers may be their most sober response to the times - when sports are no longer just sports, sentiment and glory will eventually give way to assets and liquidity.

And Mark Walter's entry is a declaration of "capital voyage": NBA, F1, Premier League... All content that can generate global traffic will be redefined by financial logic.

Lakers are no longer a team. It is a new type of asset, a tradable cultural power, an IP engine that is still on the rise.

This is not the end, but a brand new opening whistle.