{
  "id": 685587,
  "title": "Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner buy Los Angeles Lakers",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/12/bob-iger-e-joshua-kushner-compram-os-los-angeles-lakers",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-12T16:43:38.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Brazil Journal",
    "slug": "brazil-journal",
    "url": "https://braziljournal.com/bob-iger-e-joshua-kushner-compram-os-los-angeles-lakers/"
  },
  "original_language": "pt",
  "account": "The Los Angeles Lakers has just been sold (again), and this time breaking the record price for an NBA franchise – even after losing LeBron James to the Philadelphia 76ers last month. Fourteen months after finalizing the purchase of the Lakers for $10 billion – also a record price at the time – Mark Walter decided to pass the franchise on to Bob Iger, the former and legendary CEO of Disney, and Joshua Kushner, the founder of private equity firm Thrive Capital. The price tag: $12.5 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. Walter had bought the Lakers from the Buss family, which controlled the team since 1979 and still maintains a minority stake. He is also the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team – the current back-to-back MLB champion – and has a stake in Chelsea, of the Premier League. Walter – who is 66 years old and CEO of financial services company Guggenheim Partners – came under scrutiny from US authorities in recent months due to an investigation into the origin of around $16 billion in loans granted to companies linked to him or his conglomerate, TWG Global. The investigation is looking into whether private credit agreements involving his companies constitute fraud. For Iger and Kushner, this is not their first foray into the world of sports. Iger and his wife, Willow Bay, bought a minority stake in 2024 in Angel City FC, a Los Angeles women's soccer team. Iger has been close to the NBA since his days running Disney. As the owner of ESPN, which has broadcast the championship for decades, Disney maintained a close relationship with the league, especially with its commissioner, Adam Silver. Meanwhile, Kushner has a minority stake in the Miami NBA team, the Heat, and previously had a stake in the Memphis Grizzlies, of the same league. He was also involved in recent controversy, this time with FIFA. It was Kushner's Thrive Capital that led the plan of FIFA President Gianni Infantino to sell stakes in entity competitions to private investors – especially the World Cup – for $4.2 billion. The plan sparked a strong reaction from European, Asian and North and Central American federations, which demanded Infantino's resignation. The plan was shelved. Officially, the Lakers said the sale has not yet been finalized and needs to be approved by the board of governors – which brings together all NBA franchise owners. The purchase of sports franchises by billionaires is not a new phenomenon, but it has been accentuated in recent years. The WSJ reported yesterday that Jeff Bezos is part of a group of investors interested in buying Liverpool, of England, for around $8 billion. According to the newspaper, the group includes Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and is led by Amit Bhatia, son-in-law of Indian steel giant Lakshmi Mittal.",
  "summary": "O Los Angeles Lakers acaba de ser vendido (de novo), e desta vez quebrando o recorde de preço para uma franquia da NBA – mesmo após perder LeBron James para o Philadelphia 76ers no mês passado. Quatorze meses após finalizar a compra dos Lakers por US$ 10 bilhões – também um preço recorde até então […] The post Bob Iger e Joshua Kushner compram os Los Angeles Lakers appeared first on Brazil…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Quartz",
        "title": "Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner agreed to buy the Los Angeles Lakers for a record $12.5 billion",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/12/bob-iger-and-joshua-kushner-agreed-to-buy-the-los-angeles-lakers-for",
        "published": "2026-08-12T17:30:41.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}