Josh Kushner has reached an agreement with former Disney CEO Bob Iger to acquire the Los Angeles Lakers at a valuation of $12.5 billion, which will set a new global record for professional sports club transactions.

The deal still requires approval from the NBA Board, due diligence, and resolution of some equity disputes within the Buss family, and has not yet been officially completed.

41-year-old Josh Kushner, born into a New York real estate dynasty, is the brother of Jared Kushner and husband of supermodel Karlie Kloss. His personal wealth has surged to approximately $16.7 billion due to investments in OpenAI, SpaceX, and others.

He founded Thrive Capital in 2010 with $5 million, making early investments in Instagram and profiting before Facebook's acquisition. He has since invested in Spotify, Stripe, GitHub, Twitch, Robinhood, and positioned Thrive in the AI era with investments in OpenAI, SpaceX, Cursor, Anduril, Databricks, and Scale AI, managing over $65 billion in assets.

Josh previously held minority stakes in the Memphis Grizzlies and Miami Heat, and this year invested in the San Francisco Giants through Thrive Eternal. If the Lakers deal is completed, he will need to sell his Heat shares; his wife, Karlie Kloss, invests in the WNBA's New York Liberty and founded a programming charity.

Thrive Eternal focuses on irreplaceable assets such as legendary sports clubs and cultural institutions. The Lakers represent history, a sense of belonging, and collective memory, forming a hedge in the AI era.

From a market mechanism perspective, new wealth from technology is flowing into scarce physical sports assets, with funds shifting from AI investment returns to top NBA clubs. Event-driven transactions are driving up the valuations of sports franchises, benefiting sellers and buyers with long-term holding capabilities, while traditional sports ownership competitors face pressure.

Source: Public Information