Less than a month ago, Mark Walter was the undisputed king of Los Angeles sports as owner of the NBA’s marquee franchise Lakers and the MLB’s Dodgers, the reigning World Series champs.
Now the billionaire’s holding company, TWG Global, is moving into damage control mode amid claims of insurance fraud in his empire.
The shocking sale of the Lakers to a group led by investor Jared Kushner and Disney mogul Bob Iger only threw fuel on the fire of what had been reported to be government scrutiny stemming from deals made by his asset-management giant Guggenheim Investments over the years.
On Wednesday, Walter’s company issued a series of bullet points aiming to counter concerns that the Dodgers may be the next asset to be sold as well as on the terms of the sale of the Lakers. It also confirmed that its dealing with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission “to resolve their inquiries,” confirming the probes at both agencies.
Walter’s company said of the terms of the deal for the NBA team, “Regarding the proposed sale of the Los Angeles Lakers for $12.5 billion, Mr. Walter was approached by Josh Kushner and his team about this transaction and the agreement represents a 25% premium to the price paid by Mr. Walter less than a year ago (and an even higher premium to the $5.0 billion valuation Mr. Walter paid in 2021)—hardly a ‘fire sale.'”
