Before Mark Walter sold the Lakers to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, Metta World Peace reveals he tried to buy a partial ownership stake.
On August 12, Mark Walter shocked the world by selling the Los Angeles Lakers to a new ownership group headlined by Disney CEO Bob Iger and venture capitalist Josh Kushner, but could the team have almost been sold to Metta World Peace? instead
Taking to LinkedIn to give a peek behind the curtain of his current business dealings, World Peace revealed that when news broke that Walker was initially buying the Lakers in June of 2025, he attempted to purchase one percent of the franchise in order to have a chance to buy the team in the future should it come up for sale again.
“I think I was so close to buying Los Angeles Lakers with my group. It’s so incredible to see the growth from 2010 until now. Dr. Buss, the Buss Family, and Jeanie are so incredible. The day after Walters bought team, I requested to buy 1% for $100m at the $10b valuation. When talking to my group, and because minorities don’t get the same private credit and debt structures as other first-timers, I had to keep my group in stealth. I also just didn’t take meetings with certain sovereign because their track record in this space don’t fund certain ethnicities without contingencies,” World Peace wrote.
“The reason I requested the 1% the very next day was because I wanted to be put in position to buy team from Mr. Walter’s. Since entering in to private equity and private credit, I saw the opportunity within the first 15 mins of reading how the deal was structured. And I knew the @Lakers fans would love Mr. Game 7 as a Laker owner. If I had the opportunity, I would love to bid for 1/3 of the Lakers. In a non-biased approach, I’m always rooting for the Buss family, and I’m really hoping the 17.8% gets resolved. I have the best solution in regard to structure and Jeanie keeping her role. Sports ownership is just a great space to be in. Especially on the administration side.”
Ultimately, World Peace did not secure any ownership of the Lakers during the Walter era, and that appears to still be the case under the new Iger-Kushner group, but the fact that he believed the team could be turned around in rather quick order and sold again in such a short period of time is fascinating. Even if this new group appears most committed to holding onto the franchise long-term, even as the Buss siblings’ situation gets resolved, it will be interesting to see if World Peace and his group again circle back and try to make another bid for partial ownership, even if the valuation is now at $12.5 billion instead of $10 billion.
On August 12, Mark Walter shocked the world by selling the Los Angeles Lakers to a new ownership group headlined by Disney CEO Bob Iger and venture capitalist Josh Kushner, but could the team have almost been sold to Metta World Peace?