In a jolt that has stunned even the wealthiest corners of American sport, the Los Angeles Lakers have been sold to a group led by financier Josh Kushner and former Disney chief Bob Iger for a reported US$12.5 billion, or roughly A$17.7 billion, in a Lakers sale to Kushner and Iger that rewrites the record books.

Multiple reports, first broken by ESPN, describe the deal as the richest price ever paid for a professional sports franchise anywhere in the world.

What makes the sale genuinely remarkable is the timing. Barely a year ago, insurance billionaire Mark Walter bought a controlling stake in the same club, and now he is walking away from the one asset most owners would never let go.

The deal still needs formal sign-off, but the shape of it is striking for anyone watching from Australia, where clubs change hands for a tiny fraction of these sums. 

It also thrusts two very different American power brokers, one a venture capitalist with political family ties and the other a household name in entertainment, into the front office of one of basketball's grandest institutions.

The Lakers were, in effect, never supposed to be for sale. Kushner and Iger had been pursuing an expansion franchise in Las Vegas when, by their own account, the possibility of buying the Lakers instead landed in their laps and moved with almost dizzying speed.

"We were involved in pursuing the new franchise in Vegas," Iger said, describing how it was suggested Walter might part with his stake.

"The deal came together in three days. It's that simple." In a joint statement, Kushner and Iger called themselves "lifelong NBA fans" honoured to become "stewards" of the club, praising the vision of Jerry and Jeanie Buss, the family that owned the team for decades.

The two buyers arrive with plenty of baggage and pedigree. Kushner, 41, founded venture firm Thrive Capital and co-founded the insurer Oscar Health, and he is the brother of Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump. 

Iger, 75, stepped down as Disney chief executive this year, handing over to Josh D'Amaro, and in 2024 he and his wife Willow Bay took control of the women's football club Angel City FC.

Inside the Record Lakers Sale to Kushner and Iger

Walter, the 66-year-old chief executive and chair of the holding company TWG Global, only assumed majority ownership in October, when the NBA unanimously approved his purchase from the Buss family at a valuation of about US$10 billion, or roughly A$14.1 billion.

His statement on departing was warm and slightly wistful, calling the tenure "one of the great honors of my life" and insisting the club "belongs to Los Angeles", even as the sale brought his brief chapter as owner to a close.

Walter is selling only the Lakers, according to sources cited by ESPN, keeping a sprawling sporting empire intact.

Through TWG Global and its motorsport arm, he holds interests in the Los Angeles Dodgers, the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, Premier League club Chelsea, the Professional Women's Hockey League, and a stable of racing teams that includes the new Cadillac Formula 1 outfit.

Why the Lakers Sale Is Happening Now

There is a cloud, too, that the parties have been notably quiet about.

Bloomberg reported in July that Manhattan prosecutors are examining whether two insurers controlled by Walter, Delaware Life and Clear Spring Life and Annuity, properly disclosed that their private credit holdings backed other Walter-controlled ventures, with the Securities and Exchange Commission said to be running a parallel inquiry.

Those reports have not been independently confirmed, and Walter has not been charged with any wrongdoing.