# 456 The Los Angeles Lakers sold for $12.5 billion in 72 hours | The Pirate Street Journal

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/christopher-lochhead-follow-your-different-325792/456-the-los-angeles-lakers-sold-for-12-5-billion-in-72-hours-the-pirate-street-journal
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/christopher-lochhead-follow-your-different-325792/456-the-los-angeles-lakers-sold-for-12-5-billion-in-72-hours-the-pirate-street-journal.md
Podcast: [Christopher Lochhead Follow Your Different™](https://stenobird.com/podcast/christopher-lochhead-follow-your-different-325792)
Published: 2026-09-01T09:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://lochhead.com/fyd-los-angeles-lakers-sold-in-72-hours-psj-2026/
Audio file: https://media.blubrry.com/legends_and_losers/content.blubrry.com/legends_and_losers/456_FYD-PSJ_17-Los_Angeles_Lakers_2026.mp3
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Duration seconds: 2516

## Resource

The Los Angeles Lakers have just been sold for $12.5 billion, the highest price ever paid for any sports franchise in history. This blockbuster deal has sent shockwaves through the worlds of finance, technology, and sports culture alike. What does it mean when the most iconic basketball team on the planet changes hands under these circumstances? To understand the full picture, we need to look at who is buying, why they are buying, and what happens to a legendary franchise when its new owners are not fans of the game. Mark Walter had purchased the Los Angeles Lakers roughly a year ago at a $10 billion valuation, which was itself a record at the time. Josh Kushner, who runs Thrive Capital, one of OpenAI’s largest shareholders, called Walter out of the blue and made an offer. Within 72 hours, a deal was struck. The team was never officially on the market. Walter, facing regulatory scrutiny from both the US attorney in Manhattan and the SEC over billions in loans tied to his conglomerate, needed liquidity fast. The sale was as much about financial pressure as it was about opportunity. This is just some of the topics that Pirates Christopher Lochhead, Eddie Yoon and Bri Clark discuss on this episode of The Pirate Street Journal . Each week, the Category Pirates pick three headlines worth paying attention to and break down the category underneath. You’re listening to Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different . We are the real dialogue podcast for people with a different mind. So get your mind in a different place, and hey ho, let’s go.   The Financial Risks Behind the Los Angeles Lakers Deal Kushner is placing the Los Angeles Lakers inside a vehicle called Thrive Eternal, a fund designed specifically for assets he believes are immune to technological disruption.…

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