Lakers, Dodgers, Chelsea and F1: Mark Walter’s Sports Empire
In Los Angeles, the Lakers have a new owner –Mark Walter, who has investments in sport at local and global level.
The sports world of the NBA and from the city of Los Angeles He lived a real shake this Wednesday. After almost half a century, The Buss family will cease to be the main owner of the Lakers, selling a majority percentage to Mark Walter65 -year -old businessman who was already known in the city for being also the main owner of the Dodgers.
With the purchase, Walter re -joins in Los Angeles the women’s basketball franchises –Sparks– With the masculine, after the Buss family was also the owner of both between 1997 and 2006. Outside California, Walter is the main driver of the women’s hockey in the United States, owning the PWHL, a professional league that constitutes eight teams and seeks to be the NHL mirror.
But the Walter Sports Empire extends even outside the United States, being involved in football through its investment in Blueco, a company that operates to the Chelsea of the Premier League and the RC Strasbourg From Ligue 1. In motor sport, Walter stands out as the owner of Andretti Globalorganization that competes in Indycar, formula E, and from 2026, formula 1 through the team of Cadillacso it could even be the boss of Sergio Pérez, the Mexican pilot rumored to be part of the group.
But the purchase of the Lakers could be the most important for Walter, who gradually consolidates its power in the field of sport through some of the most recognized franchises and brands in the world. In addition, when it seems that each purchase could weaken their assets at least in the short term by infusion of money, Walter seems to become stronger (and richer) with each purchase.
Who is Mark Walter?
Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1960, Walter was fond of Chicago Cubs As a young man, and graduated from Creighton University in 1982 of the Business School of that institution. In 1985, he received a lawyer at Northwestern University. Fifteen years later, Guggenheim Partners founded with family members of the same name, as well as other co -workers in the financial world. Today, Walter serves as the company’s CEO, one that manages more than $ 325 billion in customers.
It is estimated that Walter’s personal fortune ranges between six and twelve billion dollars, a quantity that gives it more than enough capital to buy even such iconic institutions of American sport. The total purchase of the Lakers is estimated to eventually cost $ 10 billion – Walter will only acquire a majority percentage.
Out of sport, Walter has invested in other businesses, venturing into the world of assurance, gastronomy and real estate. But since 2012, Walter has been a regular figure in the world of sports.
The magnate of American sports … and global
The first major Walter raid to the sports world was in 2012, when together with its partners in Guggenheim Partners, it took control of the Dodgers in an operation that cost $ 2.15 billion. It was reported that although Walter gave $ 100 million personally, he is the owner of 27% of the team.
Its purchase has turned out to be extremely successful both sportsly and economically – the Dodgers have won two world series in the last five years, and the value of the team, according to Forbes, is $ 5.45 billion. That is, the team has almost tripled Walter’s investment and its partners in just over a decade.
Two years later, Walter tried to enter hockey with the Kingsalso from the city of Los Angeles, of the NHL. The offer was rejected by Philip Anschutz, who currently maintains equipment control.
In 2023, General Motors and Andretti Global, announced their intention to enter the grill of Formula 1 Through Cadillac, a proposal that was initially rejected. A year later, Walter bought Andretti Global, and the proposal was again admitted – this time an agreement was reached. According to reports, the group paid $ 450 million to enter. Through his society with Todd Boehly, also a member of Guggenheim Partners, Walter is an owner of Chelsea and RC Strasbourg, soccer teams in the European elite. Unlike what happened with the Dodgers (and now, the Lakers), is Boehly and not Walter who has the greatest interference in the sports decisions of both teams.
The Lakers, The Crown Jewel
Walter had initially bought 20% of the Lakers, a figure that increased to 47% in 2021, when he and Boehly acquired the Anschutz part. But a few years earlier, Walter tried to buy the other NBA team of the city, the Clippers – Although on that occasion did not come out thanks to the supply of the Billonario de Technology, Steve Ballmer.
As of 2021, Walter had the right to be the first buyer if the Buss family said to sell. The Buss family owns the team since 1979 and are the ones who carried out the most successful time of the team in their long history with multiple championships with players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Magic Johnsonthis last partner of Walter.
That option was possible for the first time in history – and surprisingly – this year, when Jeanie Buss, the current governor of the team, opened the door for negotiations. Buss will remain in this role in the future, according to reports, although it will be seen that so much influence will have on the management of the club with Walter and its group in charge of the financial.
Gathering the Lakers with the Sparks, Walter now dominates the two most successful basketball franchises in the city. Between them, they add 20 championships in their history – a legacy to which Walter will seek to add in the short term, in favor of the millions of fans that inherits not only in southern California, but throughout the United States already global level already counting the amplitude of its sports portfolio.
