Shockwaves were sent throughout the Southern California sports landscape last year when it was announced Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter was purchasing a majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers from the Buss family.
A similar feeling reverberated roughly one year later amid news of Walter selling the Lakers to former Disney CEO Bob Iger and Josh Kushner for a record price of $12.5 billion. Walter purchased the Lakers from Jeanie Buss for $10 billion, which set a record at the time.
Stan Kasten projects confidence after Lakers’ sale
It’s not yet clear what prompted Walter to move on from the storied NBA franchise, with theories ranging from making a $2.5 billion profit in short time, to an ongoing federal investigation for alleged tax fraud through insurance companies tied to his TWG Global company.
Regardless of the reason, Walter’s position to and commitment with the Dodgers is unchanged.
“This is a Laker story. It’s not really a Dodger story. It really has nothing to do with the Dodgers,” team president and CEO Stan Kasten said. “They’re completely separate, and so there are no changes here or contemplated here. And I think that pretty much is the whole story.”
Kasten referred to Walter as a “very sensible guy” and reasoned his decision to sell the Lakers was a matter of being “opportunistic.” The suggestion was the two Dodgers executives never discussed an impending sale of the team.
Kasten also refuted the notion that U.S. Prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) running parallel investigations had any influence on Walter choosing to cash out.
“I have no reason to think that. No, that never came up, and Mark and I discussed it,” Kasten said. “So, no, we don’t have any reason to think that. I certainly have no reason to think that.”
As for potential impact on the Dodgers’ financial resources, Kasten again assured the franchise is in strong standing and proceeding business as normal.
“I will tell you, that has nothing to do with the Dodgers either,” Kasten said of the investigations and quick selling of the Lakers. “We haven’t been consulted on that, so I really have no concerns about that at all.”
Walter only sold his controlling interest in the Lakers to Iger and Kushner, and still holds ownership stakes in the Los Angeles Sparks, Chelsea soccer club of the Premier League, Professional Women’s Hockey League, Cadillac Formula 1 and more auto racing teams.
And as Kasten conveyed multiple times while speaking with reporters, Walter is expected to retain ownership of the Dodgers as well.
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