It was a sale no one saw coming.
Not even, up until mere days before the record-setting transaction was struck this August, the man who did the sudden and unexpected selling himself.
That, at least, is how Mark Walter described the process that led to his shock sale of the Lakers this summer.
In an exclusive interview with The California Post this week, he said his decision to flip the franchise after barely a year of majority ownership was not premeditated; nor one that, even amid a federal investigation that had roiled his multi-hundred-billion-dollar business empire, he was actively seeking to execute.
Instead, Walter indicated he was planning to retain control of the iconic NBA franchise, which he acquired at a $10 billion valuation from the Buss family in June 2025 –– until one phone call with venture capitalist Josh Kushner in mid-August ultimately changed everything. That set into motion the $12.5 billion purchase that Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger closed with Walter within the 72 hours that followed.
“We just received an offer on the Lakers that was quite a good offer,” Walter insisted, “that we decided we’d pursue selling it.”
Walter’s version of events, of course, runs counter to the public speculation that has enveloped the 66-year-old businessman in the months since the deal was announced.
At the time, the move was seen as a way for Walter to quickly raise capital in the face of the federal probe being conducted into several insurance companies under his control.
That fire-sale narrative was further amplified when he also cashed out his stake in Chelsea Football Club of the English Premier League in September, and reportedly began exploring another sale of the WNBA’s Sparks last week.
Those developments triggered larger questions about the state of Walter’s financial situation; and specifically, whether he would have to offload the Dodgers next in what was starting to feel like a full-scale sell-off of his once-vast sports portfolio.
In his interview with the Post this week, however, Walter painted a notably different picture while discussing the Lakers sale and his Dodgers ownership status for the first time publicly.
He said definitively he would keep the Dodgers “no matter what,” hinting he had no plans of selling the club for at least the next decade.
He also insisted that “we weren’t really planning on selling any of the teams [he owns] originally.”
That is despite reports that his Guggenheim Partners investment firm had been trying to pay down certain affiliated loans his insurance companies made to other businesses under his control, and resolve the now more than year-long investigation they have incurred from the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission.
“If he hadn’t called me the way he did,” Walter added of his August phone conversation with Kushner, “we wouldn’t be selling the Lakers, either.”
Walter didn’t divulge any other details about the Lakers’ sale, citing the ongoing approval process that still needs to be completed by the NBA to officially consummate the transaction and transfer ownership of the franchise to Kushner and Iger.
He also declined to comment on the state of the federal investigation (which included the seizure of his personal cell phone and laptop in a raid of his private jet last year), saying it was “not appropriate for me to comment while the investigation is ongoing.”
But, his story aligned with a report from ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne this week. According to Shelburne, Walter rebuffed an initial overture made by Kushner and Iger through an intermediary about potentially purchasing the Lakers, at first conveying that the Lakers weren’t for sale.
Nonetheless, Kushner and Iger were undeterred –– quietly hoping to snatch one of the NBA’s most prominent brands after previously being involved in the bidding process for an expansion team in Las Vegas.
As Iger told the California Post in August, “it was suggested to us that maybe Mark Walter would be interested in selling his stake in the Lakers.”
As Shelburne added in her report this week, the pair were tipped off by “a well-connected financial industry source who was close enough to Walter to suggest he might be looking to restructure some of his business assets” amid the federal investigation.
The result was a so-called “Godfather offer” from Kushner that Walter decided was too good to refuse.
“We have a lot of teams, and we’re not looking really to sell any of them,” said Walter, who still does own the Professional Women’s Hockey League, as well as Formula 1 and IndyCar racing teams.
“Unless,” he countered, “it can be with somebody who’s going to help the team be better.”
For now, the Dodgers appear to be exempt from even that exception.
According to Shelburne’s ESPN report, Walter has not entertained any inquiries he has received regarding a potential sale of the baseball team.
Walter was asked by the Post this week what makes the Dodgers different, and why he is so adamant that –– unlike the Lakers –– he would not consider selling them even as the federal investigation continues to linger.
He answered with a three-minute soliloquy, detailing all the efforts his Guggenheim ownership group has made to build the club up since purchasing it 15 years ago, all the success they have enjoyed during a tenure that includes three World Series championships, and all the connections he has developed with the organization’s roster, staff and fan base.
“Look, we’ve made enormous commitments to this franchise,” he said of the Dodgers. “And the thing we’re proudest of is our relationship with our fans.”
The situation with the Lakers was different, with Walter having only served as majority owner for a year. Per Shelburne, even his wife and daughter were OK with letting them go, since “their attachment to the Lakers was still new.”
Thus, amid the backdrop of his looming legal troubles, all it took was one phone call to put the sale in motion.
Now, as it was before, the Dodgers are back to being his lone crown jewel possession.
