iger

Bob Iger’s purchase of the Lakers isn’t the former Disney boss’s first foray into ownership of a professional sports franchise in Southern California: Twenty-five months ago Iger and his wife, Willow Bay, dean of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, acquired a controlling interest in soccer club Angel City for $50 million.

And while the NWSL is a long way from the NBA — and $50 million is a long way from the $12.5 billion the basketball team sold for Wednesday — the Iger family’s management of the women’s soccer team may hint at what’s in store for the Lakers.

Spoiler alert: it’s not all good.

Iger’s investment pushed Angel City’s valuation to $250 million, making it the world’s most valuable women’s professional sports franchise. And six months after taking over the team, Bay cut the ribbon on a multi-million-dollar training complex at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, which added to the team’s worth.

“Bob and I were very clear about investing the resources in this team and the people who lead and manage it. And most certainly the women who play for it,” Bay said at the time. “We know how important it is to do our best to bring a championship to this city.”

Yet also under Iger and Bay’s leadership, Angel City’s average attendance has fallen more than 20% and the team has yet to make the playoffs or post a winning record. The roster does not have a superstar player or even a regular starter on the women’s national team — with the salary of defender Gisele Thompson, the team’s highest-paid player, ranked 19th in the 16-team league. And the club is on its fourth manager, including interim coaches, and its second president of business operations in two years as Bay maneuvers to put her own stamp on the team.

However Mark Parsons, Iger and Bay’s hand-picked sporting director, lauds the team’s new owners, saying his staff has doubled in his 20 months at Angel City and the club is finally headed in the right direction.

“They gave us the resources,” said Parsons, who previously built struggling teams into NWSL finalists in Washington and Portland. “They’ve delivered upon that. We are investing in sporting staff and resources and facilities and consultants and experts around the world to support our athletes.

“Probably as good as anyone right now.”

Parsons said he speaks frequently with Bay, who has been hands-on in running Angel City. Iger will likely be the more active partner in managing the Lakers.

“Willow is one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around in my life, never mind my career,” Parsons said. “Spending time with Willow and Bob is an education in leadership and life. They are really special leaders.

“The best compliment I could give them is when I was in my final interview, who they were in that moment was the same people I’ve met when we’ve had good moments or stressful moments to navigate together.”

The Los Angeles Lakers are to be sold for a reported record-breaking $12.5bn, external (£9.3bn) – less than a year after Mark Walter took a majority stake in the NBA franchise.

Josh Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared, and former Disney chief executive Bob Iger are buying the controlling interest in one of the world’s most iconic sports teams.

Walter bought his share, reportedly worth an estimated $10bn (£7.45bn), from the Buss family in a deal that was unanimously approved by the NBA Board of Governors in October 2025.

Kushner and Iger said in a statement: “As lifelong NBA fans, we are deeply honoured for the opportunity to become stewards of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most iconic sports franchises in the world.

“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.”

More to follow.

Former Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger and Thrive Capital founder Joshua Kushner have hired investment bankers and discussed making a bid for the National Basketball Assn. expansion team in Las Vegas, according to people familiar with their plans.

The bid would be for a majority investment in the team, according to the people, who asked to not be identified because the discussions are private. The NBA’s board of governors approved the exploration of a potential franchise expansion in Las Vegas and Seattle in March.

Iger and Kushner are discussing making the bid through Thrive Eternal, a company set up by Kushner’s firm to invest in iconic brands and cultural assets. The company operates as a holding company, structured to raise new capital and make investments into businesses without a set exit timeline. Iger is involved with Thrive as an advisor.

It’s unclear what the size of the bid and the valuation of the franchise would be. Representatives for Thrive Capital and Iger declined to comment.

Iger, who took over as CEO of Disney from 2005 to 2020 and then again from 2022 to March of this year, had a tenure marked by acquiring marquee entertainment franchises and expanding them, including Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox. The executive previously bought a controlling stake in Angel City Football Club, a women’s soccer team, with his wife, Willow Bay. A big basketball fan, he’s had a lot of experience with the NBA through Disney’s ESPN sports networks.

Kushner, meanwhile, has been building an investment portfolio of tech startups for decades, from investing early into OpenAI and Instagram, and working on dozens of incubations through his venture firm, Thrive Capital. The venture firm has total assets under management of more than $50 billion, according to a regulatory filing. Earlier this year, the firm raised more than $10 billion for its largest fund ever. The NBA discussions show the latest iteration in how Thrive is expanding beyond its roots of investing in technology startups, into also influencing culture through entertainment and sports.

Announced in April, Thrive Eternal, which operates a permanent capital vehicle, raised its initial capital from existing Thrive investors. “These are assets with qualities that cannot be replicated by technology,” Kushner said in a social media post. “In a world shaped by abundant intelligence where creation scales and distribution fragments, we believe they will matter even more.”

Thrive Eternal’s first investment, though not a controlling stake, was backing a Major League Baseball team, the San Francisco Giants. The capital of that deal is set to go toward the Giants’ Oracle Park and its surrounding real estate, according to a person familiar with the matter, Bloomberg previously reported.

Mascarenhas writes for Bloomberg.