Josh Kushner, in one of the most expensive and unexpected moves of the decade, made a bid alongside Bob Iger to buy the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal valuing the franchise at $12.5 billion. The only issue is that, on paper, they do not even have enough money. Kushner sits at roughly $5.2 billion, while Iger’s fortune has been estimated at around $700 million, combining for somewhere around $5.9 billion. So how can two men worth less than half the Lakers’ price buy the team, and why do two businessmen from New Jersey and New York want the keys to Los Angeles’ most famous basketball franchise?
Josh Kushner was born in New Jersey and attended Harvard College before later attending Harvard Business School. Success was not immediate. During his second year at Harvard, Kushner helped launch Scene, a student pop-culture publication that was badly received and did not exactly become the next media empire. Other early startup attempts also came and went before Kushner eventually found the business that would create most of his fortune: Thrive Capital.
Founded in 2009, Thrive became a major venture-capital firm by betting on technology companies early. One of Kushner’s most famous investments was Instagram before Facebook purchased the company for $1 billion. Thrive later backed companies including Spotify, Stripe and OpenAI, while raising billions from outside investors. Most importantly for this story, Kushner’s wealth is largely tied to his ownership in Thrive rather than sitting as $5 billion in a checking account.
Bob Iger had a less startup-heavy beginning. Growing up in New York, Iger attended Ithaca College, graduating with a degree in television and radio. Dreaming of becoming a news anchor, Iger started working in television while still in college before joining ABC in 1974.
The rest was basically history. Iger worked his way through ABC before eventually becoming one of the most powerful executives at Disney. During his time leading the company, Disney acquired Pixar in 2006, Marvel in 2009, Lucasfilm in 2012 and most of 21st Century Fox in 2019. In other words, Iger spent years turning already valuable brands into even larger pieces of an entertainment empire.
Buying the Lakers is obviously different from buying Marvel, but the idea is pretty familiar: acquire one of the most recognizable brands in the world and figure out how to make it even more valuable.
The Lakers are obviously one of the most prestigious teams in basketball. From the jerseys and championships to Hollywood and Crypto.com Arena, owning the Lakers is not the same as buying some random sports franchise. The team carries an identity that extends well beyond basketball.
The age difference between Iger and Kushner also means the Lakers represent different generations to each of them. Born in 1951, Iger lived through the Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain years before watching the Showtime Lakers of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dominate the 1980s. Kushner, born in 1985, grew up much closer to the Shaq and Kobe era, when the Lakers won three straight championships from 2000 through 2002.
The Lakers also give them something they had already been looking for. Kushner and Iger had reportedly explored pursuing an NBA expansion franchise before the Lakers unexpectedly became available. Instead of building a new team from nothing, the opportunity came to buy one of the league’s crown jewels.
This is where the $5.9 billion versus $12.5 billion question starts making sense.
Kushner and Iger are the headline buyers, but that does not mean they are personally pulling $12.5 billion out of their pockets. The money behind transactions this large can come from equity, outside investors, investment vehicles and potentially debt financing.
Kushner also has something much more important than his personal net worth: access to enormous pools of investment capital.
Reporting says the Lakers transaction is being backed through Thrive Eternal, a long-term investment vehicle connected to Kushner and Thrive Capital. Due diligence is being conducted through that group, meaning the purchase is much bigger than Kushner and Iger simply combining their personal bank accounts.
Anyone wondering how businessmen can buy companies or sports teams worth more than their own net worth should look at this deal.
Josh Kushner and Bob Iger are the names attached to the Lakers purchase, but their names are only the front of a much larger financial engine. Personal wealth helps them get into the room, but investment funds, outside capital and financing are what allow deals this massive to actually happen.
Kushner brings access to billions in investment capital. Iger brings decades of experience managing some of the biggest entertainment brands in the world. Together, they found themselves with the opportunity to control arguably the NBA’s biggest brand.
So no, $5.9 billion did not magically turn into $12.5 billion.
The people worth $5.9 billion knew how to get access to the rest.
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