The sale of Mark Walter's majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger is still pending, and Lakers fans are wondering how it will all work out and how the franchise will be run by the two incoming owners.
Kushner, among other things, is the co-founder of Thrive Capital and Oscar Health, while Iger had a long stint as the CEO of the Walt Disney Company. Some fans may not like the idea of having owners who have a background in corporate America after the Buss family has owned at least part of the team for nearly half a century.
Charles Gasparino of the New York Post outlined the specific roles that Kushner and Iger are expected to have once their purchase becomes official.
"The deal is still under review by the NBA, but
the fact is, it’s Kushner – the 41-year-old brother of President [Donald] Trump’s son-in-law, Jared – who will be the lone controlling shareholder of the Lakers, sources close to the situation said. Under NBA rules that requires him to personally own at least 15% of the franchise, so Kushner himself will plunk down at least $1.875 billion to get the deal done."
The purchase was agreed to with a record valuation of $12.5 billion. Walter had bought his stake from the Buss family this past October for $10 billion.
Iger is reportedly not expected to be very hands-on with the Lakers.
“Bob will not be the control person,” one person close to Kushner told me. “It is expected that Bob will be a minority owner, an alternate governor, and lead the management of the team day-to-day, but not the governor of the team.”
Indeed, Kushner is expected to be more involved than Iger.
“Another source close to the NBA who asked not to be identified: 'There can only be one governor per team and that will be Josh Kushner. He will be putting up the 15% ownership stake.'”
This all goes against a report by Khobi Price a few weeks ago that indicated that Iger would be more involved than Kushner.
Of course, just days after Walter agreed to sell his stake to Kushner and Iger, five of the six Buss siblings voted to sell their collective 17.8% remaining stake to Kushner and Iger. The one Buss sibling who is against that sale is Jeanie Buss, who currently serves as the Lakers' governor.
She is reportedly open to finding a way to remain as governor by holding on to at least a 15% ownership stake.
When Walter made his initial purchase last year, an agreement was made that Buss could stay as governor for five years.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: How Josh Kushner, Bob Iger's ownership of Lakers will be set up
