Jared Kushner's brother Joshua, former Disney CEO Bob Iger, buying NBA's Los Angeles Lakers team
The sale comes barely a year after the team’s controlling stake was sold for $10 billion to Mark Walter, the billionaire CEO of Guggenheim Partners who also owns MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers.
Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner, Jewish businessmen, have agreed to purchase the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA in a landmark $12.5 billion transaction, according to ESPN. This deal follows closely on the heels of their acquisition of the team's controlling interest just a year prior, which was sold for $10 billion to Mark Walter, a billionaire CEO of Guggenheim Partners.
The new owners hail from different backgrounds – Iger is the former CEO of Disney, while Kushner, being Jared Kushner's brother, is a significant figure in both business and politics.
Kushner, 41, is a billionaire venture capitalist who holds a minority stake in the Miami Heat, the team he must sell to complete the Lakers deal, along with a previous ownership stake in the Memphis Grizzlies. As lifelong NBA fans, Iger and Kushner expressed their honor in becoming stewards of the iconic Los Angeles Lakers franchise. They acknowledged the respect they hold for the Buss family, the longtime owners, and pledged their commitment to the team's long-term success.
This acquisition of the Lakers is part of a series of high-profile NBA team purchases by Jewish businessmen, including Mat Ishbia's acquisition of the Phoenix Suns and Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall's purchase of the Charlotte Hornets, both from Michael Jordan. The trend of Jewish businesspeople investing in NBA teams follows the recent controversy involving Jared Kushner's investment fund, Thrive Eternal, which tried to buy a stake in FIFA's World Cup tournaments due to objections from stakeholders about private ownership of the sport's premier event.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
