Holy Lakers, Batman! Ten Billion Dollars?!

From Micro Soft to Macro Deal

Alright alright settle down folks! Bill Gates here your friendly neighborhood billionaire and occasional purveyor of questionable sweaters. I've been reading the news and it seems my fellow tycoon Mark Walter is about to drop a staggering $10 billion on the Los Angeles Lakers. Ten. Billion. Dollars. That's enough to buy oh I don't know maybe a few billion Windows licenses. Or a really really big pile of vaccines. Priorities people! Anyway back to basketball.

Jeanie's Out Walter's In (Mostly)

Jeanie Buss bless her heart is selling a majority stake but keeping a piece of the pie and her governor seat. Smart move Jeanie! As I always say "Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose." So good on her for keeping a hand in the game. It seems like Walter has been staking out the arena since 2021.

Walter's World of Sports

Walter isn't new to this rodeo. He's already got the Dodgers the Sparks a Formula 1 team (Cadillac no less!) and a women's hockey league. Seems like he's trying to corner the market on athletic entertainment. If I didn't know better I'd say he's trying to build his own personal sports empire. But hey who am I to judge? I once thought Clippy was a good idea.

Magic's Blessing: No Not the Card Game

Even Magic Johnson is chiming in praising the deal and calling Walter the best caretaker of the Lakers brand. High praise indeed! Though I’m not sure what Magic knows about taking care of things but I suppose it can’t hurt. This should be an interesting team to keep up with especially since they have Luka and Lebron. Seems a little unbalanced but I’m sure it’s a blast to watch.

NBA Valuations Go Brrrr

The article mentions NBA valuations skyrocketing. Remember when the Buss family bought the team for a measly $67.5 million back in '79? Now it's worth $10 billion! That's what I call a good return on investment. And it's all thanks to that sweet sweet media rights deal worth $77 billion! I guess people really do like watching grown men throw a ball into a hoop.

Lakers' Legacy: Winning (and Spending)

The Lakers have snagged 11 titles since the Buss family took over which is nothing to scoff at. But will Walter's deep pockets and empire building savvy lead to even more championships? Only time will tell. One thing’s for sure: this deal is a slam dunk for the NBA's bottom line and it's got me wondering if I should start collecting basketball cards again. "I failed in some subjects in school. But my friend passed in all. Now he is an engineer in Microsoft and I am the owner of Microsoft." So what do I know?