Throughout his storied career as a media executive, Bob Iger has made repeated attempts to own a major sports franchise. On Wednesday, he succeeded with a splash, joining Joshua Kushner to purchase the Lakers for a reported $12 billion.
The sale surprised the NBA. Only 14 months ago, the the Buss family sold the Lakers to Dodgers owner Mark Walter for a record-setting $10 billion. Meanwhile, Iger and Kushner were making a bid for an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas.
In March, the NBA board of governors had approved the exploration of franchise expansion in Las Vegas and Seattle. Iger and Kushner reportedly hired investment bankers and discussed making a majority investment in a Las Vegas team, people aware of the discussions told The Times.
Their pivot from a start-up squad to a legacy franchise is stunning. Iger and Kushner, a billionaire venture capitalist and founder of New York-based Thrive Capital, will own one of the most storied NBA teams.
The Lakers have won 17 championships, including 12 since moving from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 1960. They are the franchise of Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James and Luka Doncic.
“As lifelong NBA fans, we are deeply honored for the opportunity to become stewards of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most iconic sports franchises in the world,” Iger and Kushner said in a statement. “We have immense respect for the leadership and vision of Jerry and Jeanie Buss. Our long-term commitment is to build on that foundation, compete at the highest level, and serve this extraordinary team, its fans, and the city of Los Angeles.”
The purchase marks a triumph in the sports realm for Iger, whose strategic moves and bold acquisitions made Disney the envy of the entertainment world. As CEO from 2005-2020 and again from 2022 until March, Iger spearheaded the acquisition of Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox.
“Enjoy what you do,” Iger said in a corporate sendoff video earlier this year. “Love what you do — because you won’t do it well unless you do.”
He couldn’t, however, close the deal on a major sports franchise. Iger, 75, and his wife, dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism Willow Bay, acquired a controlling stake in the Angel City Football Club of the National Women’s Soccer League in 2024. It was the closest Iger had come to the big time until Wednesday.
During his hiatus from Disney in 2021-22, Iger expressed interest in leading a purchase of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. However, he was blocked from participating in the bidding process because the team’s disgraced owner, Robert Sarver, reportedly held a grudge after Disney property ESPN exposed Sarver’s workplace misconduct.
In 2015, Iger joined efforts to bring the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers to the greater Los Angeles suburb of Carson, cutting a deal that would have led to an ownership stake in one of those franchises had the move materialized.
The $1.7-billion project included a stadium to be built on top of a former Carson landfill. Yet the addition of Iger seemed to vault the plan ahead of the Inglewood stadium backed by St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
At the time, Carmen Policy, a former NFL executive who spearheaded the Carson project, called the addition of Iger a “game-changer.
“We now have the kind of leadership and expertise that should calm any concerns about any NFL teams going into L.A. and getting off on the right foot and pursuing the right course,” Policy said. “Who could we get to better guarantee fan experience than the man who runs ‘the happiest place on earth?’”
The NFL, however, cast its lot with Stan Kroenke, who built the $5-billion stadium in Inglewood that became SoFi — then the new home for the Rams in Los Angeles.
The decision was made in an 11-hour meeting of NFL owners in a Houston hotel ballroom in January 2016. Iger made the pitch for Carson and Kevin Demoff for the Rams.
The Rams president went first, then came Iger, who spoke of his love for the NFL and his branding expertise. He reminded the owners that as head of ESPN’s parent company, he had paid them all plenty of money over the years.
After Iger departed, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones pushed back his swivel chair and stood to address the room.
“He said he paid us. Last time I checked, that money is coming from Disney shareholders, not him,” Jones said, touching off laughter in the room.
The fumble with the NFL was a humbling experience for Iger, who is a lifelong passionate sports fan. The New York native grew up rooting for the Brooklyn Dodgers before switching allegiances to the Yankees when the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. He admired the Vince Lombardi-coached Green Bay Packers in the NFL and attended Knicks games when it came to basketball.
His 30-year career at Disney began with the company’s acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC Inc. — then an industry-changing deal that brought ESPN to the Burbank entertainment giant. Iger intrinsically recognized the value of sports and its power to connect with fans. He was instrumental in building ESPN into a television juggernaut.
In the 1990s and early aughts, Disney owned Orange County neighbors the Mighty Ducks and the Angels — part of a media push to build audiences for TV networks with sports teams. Disney ultimately exited those investments because they were losing money.
The power dynamic has shifted in the last decade. Now sports teams and leagues have leverage in their dealings with TV broadcasters amid the soaring value of individual athletes and teams. Leagues, teams and players drive their own marketing through social media channels and for the leagues, in some cases, streaming apps.
Still, the power of television remains. The NBA has one of the youngest and most ardent fan bases — making Iger and Kushner’s takeover a promising turn for the NBA amid Mark Walters’ legal problems.
Kushner, the younger brother of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, is a minority owner of the Miami Heat.
Iger has long wanted to be a team owner, but his role at Disney got in the way. He first retired from Disney in late 2021, but the handoff to his then-successor Bob Chapek was marred by missteps. Disney brought Iger back as chief executive less than a year later. His tenure as CEO ended in mid-March when he handed the reins to Josh D’Amaro, the charismatic parks chief.
Iger will remain on Disney’s board of directors through the end of the year and remains a senior corporate advisor. In January, his long tenure at Disney will cease, presumably allowing him to focus his attention on the Lakers.
Times staff writer Sam Farmer contributed to this story.
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