Joshua Kushner, a venture capital investor, has made many moves in the sports world in the past few years. He bought stakes in the Memphis Grizzlies and Miami Heat basketball teams and the San Francisco Giants baseball team. And he was involved in an eventually scuttled attempt to purchase a piece of FIFA, the international soccer organization.
Now Mr. Kushner and Robert A. Iger, the former Disney chief executive, are buying a majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers at a valuation of $12.5 billion.
Mr. Kushner has a recognizable last name. His brother is Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, who runs a private equity firm and was a top adviser in the first Trump administration. But Joshua Kushner has a much lower public profile, and different politics. He has supported Democrats in recent years.
Here is look at Mr. Kushner’s investment track record and how the deal for the Lakers will work.
His Firm
Mr. Kushner, 41, is influential in the investment world through Thrive, the firm he founded in 2009. His estimated net worth, according to Forbes, is more than $5 billion.
Thrive, which has more than $60 billion in assets under management, has three lines of business: Thrive Capital, which invests in growth companies like OpenAI, SpaceX and Stripe; Thrive Holdings, which invests in and transforms companies affected by artificial intelligence; and Thrive Eternal, which invests in businesses that it believes will not be significantly disrupted by A.I.
Mr. Kushner’s investment in the Lakers, which still requires approval by the National Basketball Association, was done through Thrive Eternal, which the firm launched this spring. Thrive Eternal’s first investment was in the San Francisco Giants. Mr. Kushner also has a stake in the Heat, though he would have to sell that investment if the N.B.A. approves the Lakers deal. (He sold his stake in the Grizzlies before investing in the Heat.)
This summer, Thrive Eternal was among a group of investors vying to buy a 20 percent stake in FIFA in a proposed multibillion-dollar deal that many feared would upend global soccer.
What Else Has He Invested In?
One of Thrive’s first big successes was Oscar Health, a health insurance company that initially catered to the Affordable Care Act marketplaces created under the Obama administration. During the first half of this year, Oscar posted record profits.
Early on, Thrive also focused on consumer-facing businesses like the eyeglasses retailer Warby Parker and the e-commerce platform Jet. Among its winning bets was Instagram. Thrive invested in the social network at a $500 million valuation as part of a financing round in 2012, only to see Facebook agree to buy it for $1 billion 72 hours later.
The Kushner-Iger Connection
Mr. Iger and Mr. Kushner have known each other for years.
After Mr. Iger retired from Disney in 2021, he went to work at Thrive as a venture partner. He returned to Thrive this year after his second retirement from Disney.
Mr. Kushner and Mr. Iger had been looking to buy an expansion N.B.A. team in Las Vegas but changed course last week, making a move to buy the Lakers instead, a person with knowledge of the decision said.
How He Bought the Lakers
The deal-making for the Lakers began Friday when Mr. Kushner called the Lakers’ current owner, Mark Walter, two people familiar with the mater said.
Mr. Kushner offered to buy a majority stake in the team with Mr. Iger at a valuation of $12.5 billion — just a little over a year after Mr. Walter bought it for $10 billion.
By Wednesday, the deal had become public.
How Would the Lakers Deal Work?
The N.B.A. first allowed minority private equity investments in teams in 2021. At $12.5 billion, the deal for the Lakers is the largest price paid for an N.B.A. team.
Under the league’s rules, Thrive cannot invest more than 20 percent in the Lakers. Mr. Kushner and potentially Mr. Iger would help provide the cash to buy the rest of Mr. Walter’s majority stake as individual investors.
Once the deal is complete, Mr. Iger will oversee the Lakers day to day, while Mr. Kushner will focus on running Thrive, a person briefed on their plans said.
Tania Ganguli and Brooks Barnes contributed reporting.
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