Meet Mark Walter, the billionaire who agreed to buy Lakers in historic $10B deal
After shelling out a record-breaking sum of approximately $10 billion, Mark Walter is soon to be the new owner of the Lakers.The 65-year-old Walter, a businessman with a net worth of $12.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires’ index, agreed to buy the Lakers from the Buss family in the largest-ever sale of a U.S.sports franchise, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Wednesday.He’s the CEO of Guggenheim Partners, a financial services firm with more than $325 billion in assets, and of TWG Global, a multinational holding company.And he’s also no stranger to sports ownership and investment. Walter is the primary owner and chairman of the Dodgers, and he also has financial interests in several other sports teams and enterprises, including Chelsea FC, the Los Angeles Sparks, the Cadillac Formula 1 racing team, the Billie Jean Cup and the Professional Women’s Hockey League. Now, he’s adding one of the most iconic brands in sports to that portfolio. Walter’s Guggenheim Baseball Management group purchased the Dodgers in 2012 for $2.15 billion in what was then an MLB record. Under the supervision of Walter, the Dodgers have enjoyed a sustained run of success — the team has won the NL West all but one time since 2013, and captured World Series titles in 2020 and 2024. He has co-led the ownership group for the Sparks since 2014 alongside six others, including Lakers legend and former part-owner Magic Johnson. And he’s involved with Chelsea by being a co-leader of the BlueCo consortium with Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital and Hansjörg Wyss. The consortium took control of the club in 2022, after former owner Roman Abramovich, a Russian businessman, was sanctioned by the U.K.
government in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.The PWHL’s creation in 2023 is thanks in large part to Walter’s investment, and the league’s championship trophy, the “Walter Cup,” is named after Mark and his wife, Kimbra.Walter is involved with the Cadillac F...