LA Lakers confirm sale of majority stake in franchise to Mark Walter
Los Angeles Lakers Forward LeBron James.
Photo:
Icon Sportswire / PHOTOSPORT
The Buss family have agreed to sell a majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to TWG Global chief executive Mark Walter, the two parties confirmed on Wednesday (US time), while adding that Jeanie Buss will remain governor of the storied NBA franchise.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but when the news was first reported last week it said the agreement
valued the 17-times NBA champion Lakers at US$10 billion (NZ$16b)
, making it the largest-ever sale of a professional sports team.
Walter, who has ownership interests in several professional sports teams including MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers and the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, has been a minority owner of the Lakers since 2021.
"From the day our father purchased the Lakers, we have been determined to deliver what the City of Los Angeles deserves and demands: a team that is committed to winning relentlessly and to doing so with passion and with style," Buss said in a news release.
"I have gotten to know Mark very well over time and been delighted to learn how he shares those same values."
The sale is expected to close in the third or fourth quarter of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions including obtaining NBA approval, the two parties said.
The late Jerry Buss purchased the Lakers in 1979 and turned the team into one of the world's most popular sports franchises, winning five championships during their now-iconic "Showtime" era in the 1980s.
Through the years the Lakers' rosters have featured world-famous talents such as Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and LeBron James.
Jeanie Buss, who took over as principal owner after her father Jerry died in 2013 and became one of the most powerful women in sport, will oversee all team operations on a day-to-day basis for the foreseeable future.
"Since Dr Jerry Buss first purchased the team in 1979, they have truly set the standard for basketball in one era after another, which is why you can find people anywhere in the world wearing Lakers shirts and jerseys," said Walter.
"I admire what he, Jeanie and the Buss family have built, and I know how much this special organization matters to Southern Californians and to sports fans everywhere.
"I also have tremendous respect for Jeanie's continued commitment to maintaining the Lakers' long-term vision and elite status, and I'm excited to work with her on the next era."
-Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Trump's sweeping tax-cut, spending bill clears first US Senate hurdle
Trump on social media hailed the "great victory" for his "great, big, beautiful bill." Photo: SAUL LOEB / AFP By David Morgan and Nicole Johnson , Reuters The Republican-controlled US Senate narrowly advanced President Donald Trump's, sweeping tax-cut and spending bill , during a marathon weekend session marked by political drama, division and lengthy delays as Democrats sought to slow the legislation's path to passage. Lawmakers voted 51-49 to open debate on the 940-page megabill, with two of Trump's fellow Republicans joining Democrats to oppose the legislation that would fund the president's top immigration, border, tax-cut and military priorities. Trump on social media hailed the "great victory" for his "great, big, beautiful bill." After hours of delay, during which Republican leaders and Vice President JD Vance worked behind closed doors to persuade last-minute holdouts to support the measure, Democrats demanded that the megabill first be read aloud in the chamber - a task that could delay the start of the debate until Sunday afternoon (US time). Democrats say the bill's tax cuts would disproportionately benefit the wealthy at the expense of social programs for lower-income Americans. "Senate Republicans are scrambling to pass a radical bill, released to the public in the dead of night, praying the American people don't realise what's in it," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor. "Democrats are going to force this chamber to read it from start to finish," he said. Once the bill has been read, lawmakers will begin up to 20 hours of debate on the legislation. That will be followed by a marathon amendment session, known as a "vote-a-rama," before the Senate votes on passage. Lawmakers said they hoped to complete work on the bill on Monday. Republican Senators Thom Tillis and Rand Paul voted against opening debate, a move that seemed for a time to be in danger of failing. Trump attacked Tillis, who opposed the bill's cuts to the Medicaid healthcare program for lower-income Americans, which he said would be devastating for his native North Carolina. Tillis is up for reelection next year. "Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against 'Senator Thom' Tillis. I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks," the president posted. Paul opposed the legislation because it would raise the federal borrowing limit on the $36.2t US debt by an additional $5t. "Did Rand Paul Vote 'NO' again tonight? What's wrong with this guy???" Trump said on social media. The vote was in limbo for hours as Vance, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other top Republicans sought to persuade last-minute holdouts to support the legislation. It was not clear what deals if any were struck to win over their support. Hardline Republican Senators Rick Scott, Mike Lee and Cynthia Lummis, who want deeper cuts in federal spending, voted to support the bill in the end. Another hardliner, Senator Ron Johnson, initially voted no but flipped his vote and backed the legislation. Trump was monitoring the vote from the Oval Office late into the night, a senior White House official said. The megabill would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump's main legislative achievement during his first term as president, cut other taxes and boost spending on the military and border security. The nonpartisan Joint Tax Committee released an analysis projecting that the Senate bill's tax provisions would reduce government revenue by $4.5t over the next decade, increasing the $36.2tUS government debt. The White House said this month the legislation would reduce the annual deficit by $1.4t. The world's richest person, Elon Musk, also took a swipe at the bill, which would end tax breaks for the electric vehicles that his automaker Tesla manufactures. The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country! Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future. Calling the bill "utterly insane and destructive," he risked reigniting a feud with Trump that raged earlier this month, before Musk backed down from his rhetoric. "The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!" Musk wrote in a post on his social media platform X. Republicans from states with large rural populations have opposed a reduction in state tax revenue for Medicaid providers, including rural hospitals. The newly released legislation would delay that reduction and would include $25 billion to support rural Medicaid providers from 2028 to 2032. The legislation would raise the cap on federal deductions for state and local taxes to $40,000 with an annual 1 percent inflation adjustment through 2029, after which it would fall back to the current $10,000. The bill would also phase the cap down for those earning more than $500,000 a year. That is a major concern of House Republicans from coastal states, including New York, New Jersey and California, who play an important role in keeping the party's narrow House majority. Republicans are using a legislative manoeuvre to bypass the Senate's 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation in the 100-member chamber. Democrats will focus their firepower with amendments aimed at reversing Republican spending cuts to programs that provide government-backed healthcare to the elderly, poor and disabled, as well as food aid to low-income families. The bill also would raise the Treasury Department's debt ceiling by trillions of dollars to stave off a potentially disastrous default on the nation's debt in the coming months. If the Senate passes the bill, it will then return to the House of Representatives for final passage before Trump can sign it into law. The House passed its version of the bill last month. - Reuters
RNZ News
2 days ago
- RNZ News
US Senate Republicans push ahead on Trump's sweeping tax-cut, spending bill
By Richard Cowan , David Morgan and Nicole Johnson , Reuters US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks to reporters following a Senate Republican luncheon, in the US Capitol on 27 June in Washington, DC. Photo: AFP / AL DRAGO US Senate Republicans say they are set to vote on President Donald Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill after agreeing on changes to address concerns about funding for rural hospitals and the deductibility of state taxes. Several Republican senators who had previously expressed hesitancy about voting for the bill told reporters that their concerns had been assuaged and that they were ready to vote to clear a first procedural hurdle in the coming hours. The bill is Trump's top legislative goal. With his fellow Republicans controlling both chambers, Congress has so far not rejected any of Trump's priorities. The 940-page megabill would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump's main legislative achievement during his first term as president, cut other taxes and boost spending on the military and border security. Nonpartisan analysts estimate that a version passed by the House of Representatives last month would add about US$3 trillion (NZ$5 trillion) to the US$36.2 trillion (NZ$60 trillion) US government debt. The Congressional Budget Office has not released a forecast for how much the Senate version - still subject to change - would add to the debt if enacted. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget public policy organisation on Saturday said its preliminary estimate is that the Senate version would add US$4 trillion (NZ$7 trillion) to the debt over the next decade, including interest costs. "If you thought the House bill borrowed too much - and it did - the Senate manages to make things even worse," Maya MacGuineas, the group's president, said in a statement. The White House said this month that the legislation, titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, would reduce the annual deficit by US$1.4 trillion (NZ$2.3 trillion). Democrats opposed the bill, saying its tax-cut elements would disproportionately benefit the wealthy at the expense of social programs relied upon by lower-income Americans. Republican Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Susan Collins of Maine, who had opposed concern about tax-code changes that could hurt rural hospitals, told reporters they were ready to move forward. A successful vote would kick off a lengthy process, as Democrats unveil a series of amendments unlikely to pass in a chamber that Republicans control 53-47. "By passing this bill now, we will make our nation more prosperous and secure," Senate Budget Committee Lindsey Graham said in a statement accompanying the bill text. "It is hard to believe that Republican Senators - in the dead of night - made the bill even worse than their initial awful proposal," top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer wrote on social media. "This bill virtually wipes out all wind and solar. We have to fight it." It is hard to believe that Republican Senators—in the dead of night—made the bill even worse than their initial awful proposal. This bill virtually wipes out all wind and solar. We have to fight it. Republicans from states with large rural populations have opposed a reduction in state tax revenue for Medicaid providers including rural hospitals. The newly released legislation would delay that reduction and would include US$25 billion (NZ$41 billion) to support rural Medicaid providers from 2028 to 2032. "If you want to be a working-class party, you've got to get and deliver for working-class people," Hawley told reporters. "You cannot take away healthcare for working people." The legislation would raise the cap on federal deductions for state and local taxes to US$40,000 (NZ$60,000) with an annual 1 percent inflation adjustment through 2029, after which it would fall back to the current US$10,000 (NZ$16,500). The bill would also phase the cap down for those earning more than US$500,000 (NZ$825,000) a year. That is a major concern of House Republicans from coastal states including New York, New Jersey and California, who play an important role in keeping the party's narrow House majority. Republicans are using a legislative maneuver to bypass the Senate's 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation in the 100-member chamber. The narrow majorities for Republicans in the Senate and House mean they can afford no more than three no votes from the party in either chamber to advance a bill that Democrats are united in opposing. Democrats will focus their firepower with amendments aimed at reversing Republican spending cuts to programs that provide government-backed healthcare to the elderly, poor and disabled, as well as food aid to low-income families. The bill also would raise the Treasury Department's debt ceiling by trillions of dollars to stave off a potentially disastrous default on the nation's debt in the coming months. If the Senate manages to pass the bill by early next week, the House would be poised to quickly apply the final stamp of approval, sending it to Trump for signing into law. - Reuters
1News
3 days ago
- 1News
Judge dismisses authors' copyright lawsuit against Meta over AI training
A federal judge sided with Facebook parent Meta Platforms in dismissing a copyright infringement lawsuit from a group of authors who accused the company of stealing their works to train its artificial intelligence technology. The Thursday ruling from US District Judge Vince Chhabria was the second in a week from San Francisco's federal court to dismiss major copyright claims from book authors against the rapidly developing AI industry. Chhabria found that 13 authors who sued Meta 'made the wrong arguments' and tossed the case. But the judge also said that the ruling is limited to the authors in the case and does not mean that Meta's use of copyrighted materials is lawful. 'This ruling does not stand for the proposition that Meta's use of copyrighted materials to train its language models is lawful,' Chhabria wrote. 'It stands only for the proposition that these plaintiffs made the wrong arguments and failed to develop a record in support of the right one.' Lawyers for the plaintiffs — a group of well-known writers that includes comedian Sarah Silverman and authors Jacqueline Woodson and Ta-Nehisi Coates — said in a statement that the "court ruled that AI companies that 'feed copyright-protected works into their models without getting permission from the copyright holders or paying for them' are generally violating the law. Yet, despite the undisputed record of Meta's historically unprecedented pirating of copyrighted works, the court ruled in Meta's favour. We respectfully disagree with that conclusion.' ADVERTISEMENT Meta said it appreciates the decision. 'Open-source AI models are powering transformative innovations, productivity and creativity for individuals and companies, and fair use of copyright material is a vital legal framework for building this transformative technology,' the Menlo Park, California-based company said in a statement. Although Meta prevailed in its request to dismiss the case, it could turn out to be a pyrrhic victory. In his 40-page ruling, Chhabria repeatedly indicated reasons to believe that Meta and other AI companies have turned into serial copyright infringers as they train their technology on books and other works created by humans, and seemed to be inviting other authors to bring cases to his court presented in a manner that would allow them to proceed to trial. The judge scoffed at arguments that requiring AI companies to adhere to decades-old copyright laws would slow down advances in a crucial technology at a pivotal time. "These products are expected to generate billions, even trillions of dollars for the companies that are developing them. If using copyrighted works to train the models is as necessary as the companies say, they will figure out a way to compensate copyright holders for it.' On Tuesday, from the same courthouse, US District Judge William Alsup ruled that AI company Anthropic didn't break the law by training its chatbot Claude on millions of copyrighted books, but the company must still go to trial for illicitly acquiring those books from pirate websites instead of buying them. But the actual process of an AI system distilling from thousands of written works to be able to produce its own passages of text qualified as 'fair use' under US copyright law because it was 'quintessentially transformative', Alsup wrote. In the Meta case, the authors had argued in court filings that Meta is 'liable for massive copyright infringement' by taking their books from online repositories of pirated works and feeding them into Meta's flagship generative AI system Llama. ADVERTISEMENT Lengthy and distinctively written passages of text — such as those found in books — are highly useful for teaching generative AI chatbots the patterns of human language. 'Meta could and should have paid' to buy and license those literary works, the authors' attorneys argued. Meta countered in court filings that US copyright law 'allows the unauthorized copying of a work to transform it into something new' and that the new, AI-generated expression that comes out of its chatbots is fundamentally different from the books it was trained on. "After nearly two years of litigation, there still is no evidence that anyone has ever used Llama as a substitute for reading Plaintiffs' books, or that they even could,' Meta's attorneys argued. Meta says Llama won't output the actual works it has copied, even when asked to do so. 'No one can use Llama to read Sarah Silverman's description of her childhood, or Junot Diaz's story of a Dominican boy growing up in New Jersey,' its attorneys wrote. Accused of pulling those books from online 'shadow libraries", Meta has also argued that the methods it used have 'no bearing on the nature and purpose of its use' and it would have been the same result if the company instead struck a deal with real libraries. Such deals are how Google built its online Google Books repository of more than 20 million books, though it also fought a decade of legal challenges before the US Supreme Court in 2016 let stand lower court rulings that rejected copyright infringement claims. ADVERTISEMENT The authors' case against Meta forced CEO Mark Zuckerberg to be deposed, and has disclosed internal conversations at the company over the ethics of tapping into pirated databases that have long attracted scrutiny. 'Authorities regularly shut down their domains and even prosecute the perpetrators,' the authors' attorneys argued in a court filing. "That Meta knew taking copyrighted works from pirated databases could expose the company to enormous risk is beyond dispute: it triggered an escalation to Mark Zuckerberg and other Meta executives for approval. Their gamble should not pay off.' The named plaintiffs are Jacqueline Woodson, Richard Kadrey, Andrew Sean Greer, Rachel Louise Snyder, David Henry Hwang, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Laura Lippman, Matthew Klam, Junot Diaz, Sarah Silverman, Lysa TerKeurst, Christopher Golden and Christopher Farnsworth. Chhabria said in the ruling that while he had 'no choice' but to grant Meta's summary judgment tossing the case, 'in the grand scheme of things, the consequences of this ruling are limited. This is not a class action, so the ruling only affects the rights of these 13 authors -- not the countless others whose works Meta used to train its models.'
