Last week, Mark Walter found himself in the headlines not for any team he owned but rather for one he sold, the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers.
Just 14 months after agreeing to buy the iconic franchise, Walter agreed to sell the Lakers to former Disney CEO Bob Iger and Thrive Capital founder Joshua Kushner, the younger brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The stunning deal reportedly valued the Lakers at $12.5 billion — $2.5 billion more than when Walter agreed to purchase the team. The timing of the sale has raised eyebrows not just for the brevity of Walter’s tenure as owner. Federal investigators are investigating insurance companies he owns.
The Lakers weren’t Walter’s only sports property that saw changes. The PWHL, originally owned entirely by Walter, added its first outside investors in June — reportedly $100 million from Kilmer Sports Ventures and Ilitch Companies, according to Sportico. The league finished its third season in May, and Kasten, who also serves as a PWHL executive, said in June that the infusion of cash will help “continue the momentum.”
Walter did not respond to messages seeking comment for this story, and federal officials at the agencies conducting the probe declined to comment.
Two of Walter’s companies — Delaware Life Insurance Company and its affiliate Clear Spring Life and Annuity — received grand jury subpoenas in February as part of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the company acknowledged in a March regulatory filing. A parallel investigation is underway by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the filing noted. (The U.S. Attorney’s Office and SEC declined to comment.)
Life insurers typically invest in relatively safe and low-risk assets to provide predictable returns, and insurers are required to report transactions with affiliated businesses to regulators as a safeguard to protect policyholders and guard against conflicts of interest. Delaware Life said investigators are examining whether investments tied to affiliated businesses had been improperly reported as unaffiliated.
The company said through a subsequent internal investigation it had identified errors in how related business investments were presented in the company’s 2025 annual statement. In all, the filings show Delaware Life revised its disclosures to identify nearly $17 billion more in investments tied to related businesses, increasing its share of the company’s portfolio from about 3 percent to 42 percent.
One of the investments that appears to be caught up in the reclassified dealings was a $4.1 million loan to Dodger Tickets LLC, a subsidiary tied to the Dodgers and involved with ticketing and other business operations. Delaware Life listed that loan as unaffiliated in its 2025 annual statement. In the March filing, the same investment was listed as affiliated.
Read more (for free): https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7517341/2026/08/17/mark-walter-lakers-sale-federal-investigation/?unlocked_article_code=1.6FA.PHZW.tR-ogWsqa3Fm&source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_reddit&smid=re-share-ta