Less than two weeks after European soccer bosses torpedoed his $4.2 billion power play for FIFA’s commercial rights, Josh Kushner is bouncing back big-time.
The 41-year-old venture capitalist agreed to buy the Los Angeles Lakers with former Disney CEO Bob Iger for a record $12.5 billion on Wednesday.
The transaction propels Kushner into the highest echelon of American sports ownership, though he isn’t a stranger to the league.
He briefly held a minority stake in the Memphis Grizzlies in 2019 before taking a 5% piece of the Miami Heat. His wife, model Karlie Kloss, is also a limited partner in the WNBA’s New York Liberty.
Now, Kushner and Iger are capitalizing on a sudden opening in Los Angeles.
The blockbuster acquisition marks the second time the Lakers have changed hands in just 12 months, following Mark Walter’s $10 billion buyout of the Buss family last year.
Walter, the billionaire Guggenheim Partners CEO, is flipping the franchise for a staggering profit just as he reportedly faces a federal probe into his financial empire.
For Kushner, securing the Lakers is a highly visible rebound following the collapse of his Thrive Capital bid to control FIFA’s commercial assets.
That proposal sparked immediate backlash from UEFA and threats of a World Cup boycott, forcing Kushner into a quiet retreat from the global soccer stage.
His path to the NBA’s most valuable market is rooted primarily in tech and finance, and intersects with his family’s sprawling property empire.
Born into a prominent New Jersey real estate family, his father, Charles, founded the multibillion-dollar developer Kushner Companies in 1985. Josh Kushner famously charted his own course, launching Thrive Capital in 2009 while still earning his MBA at Harvard.
After a brief stint in distressed debt at Goldman Sachs, he built a net worth Forbes now estimates at $5.2 billion by spotting early-stage tech growth.
But he also kept a hand in his family’s traditional domain, co-founding the real estate investment platform Cadre in 2014 alongside his brother Jared, bridging the gap between his tech ambitions and commercial property.
Thrive famously doubled its money backing Instagram before its sale to Facebook, and has since poured capital into heavyweights like Spotify, Stripe, Slack and OpenAI.
Kushner also co-founded the digital health insurance company Oscar Health in 2012, where he remains vice chairman.
The Lakers deal cements an already deep financial alliance with Iger. The former Disney executive previously bought into Thrive, and the duo initially set their sights on an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas.
Their latest move was bankrolled by Iger’s personal fortune and Thrive Eternal, a permanent-capital vehicle Kushner established this year to target long-term investments in sports franchises and cultural assets.
After Thrive Eternal made its first pro sports move with a minority stake in MLB’s San Francisco Giants in April, Kushner and Iger opted not to wait on the NBA’s lengthy expansion process.
Instead, they redirected their capital when Walter’s legal troubles put Los Angeles in play.
Kushner frequently navigates the intense political gravity of his family name.
His older bro Jared served as a senior White House adviser and is married to President Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump. Charles Kushner received a presidential pardon and currently serves as US ambassador to France.
Josh Kushner identifies as a lifelong Democrat, but the family’s political ties remain a flashpoint in his business dealings, and they contributed to the fierce European pushback during his FIFA bid.
Now based in New York, Kushner is stepping directly into the glare of the country’s biggest media market.
As part of the transition, he and Iger have agreed to keep Jeanie Buss in place as the team’s controlling governor for at least five years, ensuring a familiar face remains at the helm while the new owners take control of the purse strings.
