Add The California Post on Google Mark Walter stunned the sports world on Wednesday by selling his ownership stake in the Lakers at a $12.5 billion valuation to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner.
It is the largest sale of an American sports franchise in history.
However, the billionaire businessman’s ownership of the Dodgers is not expected to change, as ESPN reported, with Walter planning to retain control of the franchise under his Guggenheim Baseball Management group.
Unlike the Lakers –– whom Walter acquired through another one of his conglomerates, TWG Global, only a little more than a year ago –– the Dodgers have long been the crown jewel in his sprawling sports portfolio.
He spearheaded Guggenheim’s $2.15 billion purchase of the then-bankrupt franchise from Frank McCourt in 2012.
New Los Angeles Dodgers owners Stan Kasten, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Mark Walter laugh during a news conference to announce the new ownership of the Major League Baseball team at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, May 2, 2012. (LUCY NICHOLSON) REUTERS He has overseen a historic turnaround in which the Dodgers have become MLB’s preeminent organization, winning three World Series titles while smashing league spending records to compile a roster full of superstar talent in recent years.
He has also watched the club transform into a revenue-generating machine, becoming the first baseball team to eclipse $1 billion in annual revenue in the wake of Shohei Ohtani’s blockbuster arrival seasons years ago.
Even though his day-to-day involvement is almost entirely hands-off –– “They make all the decisions,” Walter quipped after last year’s World Series, when asked how much he trusts his “baseball people” to run the franchise, “[and] I just tell them yes” –– his influence has nonetheless been profound.
In recent weeks, however, newfound speculation surrounding his business empire has started to sprout.
First came reports of a federal investigation into potential financial improprieties at insurance companies he owned.
Then, news emerged that the 66-year-old had suffered a stroke during the 2024 World Series.
Los Angeles Dodgers chairman Mark Walter attends a press conference announcing a new partnership between the Los Angeles Dodgers and UNIQLO at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. The partnership renames the Dodger Stadium playing field to UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium. (MediaNews Group RM) MediaNews Group via Getty Images Now, his sale of the Lakers serves as perhaps the biggest shock; especially considering how recently he had initially bought the team, and how deep its ties with the Dodgers had already become.
Under Walter’s Lakers ownership, the NBA franchise hired Dodgers chief marketing officer Lon Rosen to become its president of business operations (while also allowing him to remain invovled with the Dodgers).
Baseball operations executives Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi were also enlisted to serve in advisory roles for the Lakers’ front office, consulting with Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka in an effort to revamp the organization’s behind-the-scenes infrastructure.
Those moves, at least seemingly, portended a lasting era of partnership and collaboration for Los Angeles’ two most premier sports teams, all under the shared ownership of Walter and his vast resources.
Alas, with the Lakers now being sold, the Dodgers are back to being the foremost franchise in his control.
And for now, at least, there is no sign of that changing any time soon.
