JNS

Investor Joshua Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger have agreed to buy the Los Angeles Lakers for $12.5 billion, ESPN reported on Wednesday.

The deal, which still needs to be approved by the NBA, would top the previous record set a year ago when Mark Walter, a businessman whose holding company owns several insurance companies, bought the team for about $10 billion.

Kushner, 41, is the founder and managing partner of Thrive Capital, a venture firm, and the younger brother of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump who has been one of the Trump administration’s lead negotiators on Middle East issues. He is the son of Charles Kushner, a real estate developer who currently serves as U.S. ambassador to France.

Iger, 75, was CEO of the Walt Disney Company from 2005 to 2020 and again from 2022 to 2026. His tenure oversaw the acquisition of some of Disney’s most profitable intellectual properties, including the purchase of Pixar Studios, Lucasfilm, Marvel Entertainment and 21st Century Fox.

Both Kushner and Iger are Jewish.

Walter is currently under federal investigation by prosecutors in New York and the Securities and Exchange Commission for alleged tax fraud at his insurance companies.

Originally published at: https://www.jns.org/news/u-s-news/joshua-kushner-bob-iger-to-buy-los-angeles-lakers-for-record-12-5-billion