12.5 billion deal for the Lakers: the NBA team is taken over by Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner
The legendary Los Angeles basketball franchise is being taken over by a consortium led by the former CEO of Disney and the brother of Trump’s son-in-law
From New York Luca Veronese
Aggiungi Il Sole 24 Oreai preferiti su Google
The Los Angeles Lakers are set to be taken over by Joshua Kushner (a leading figure in US venture capital and brother of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law) and Bob Iger (former CEO of Disney and an adviser to Kushner’s Thrive Capital).
The two are leading a consortium that is set to acquire the NBA franchise for $12.5 billion. The sale must be approved by the board of the NBA, the National Basketball Association, and the process may take several weeks, but the pair have confirmed the rumours and stated in a press release that they are “deeply honoured to have the opportunity to become the custodians of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the world’s most iconic sports franchises”.
Following extremely swift negotiations, the deal marks the second change of ownership for the Lakers in less than a year, after Mark Walter of TWG Global acquired a controlling stake from the Buss family, the family that had owned the Lakers since 1979 and led the Californian basketball team to success during the Magic Johnson era, followed by the Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant eras, right up to the reign of LeBron James.
Since 1979, the value of the second most successful franchise in the American league (after the Boston Celtics) has risen from 67 million to a figure that represents an all-time record for the sport. Luka Doncic, the Lakers’ current star, has stated on social media that he is looking forward to meeting Kushner and Iger. Magic Johnson himself has congratulated the new owners, whilst LeBron James, who will be playing in Philadelphia next year, has not made any comments. Many commentators – both sporting and political – fear that Donald Trump may be pulling the strings behind the deal, as he has always had a difficult relationship with the basketball league, which has a strong African-American presence.
Joshua Kushner has always kept his distance from his brother Jared’s world and from Trump. However, Joshua himself runs Thrive Eternal, the investment fund to which Gianni Infantino’s FIFA wanted to sell a minority stake for 4.2 billion dollars.
