Former Los Angeles Lakers owner Mark Walter has been in headlines the past few weeks due to being a part of a federal investigation regarding his companies having sold his stake in the Lakers at the same time.
According to Matt Moret of The Athletic, Walter is also the subject of a class-action lawsuit alleging that his insurance companies hid the ongoing federal investigation from customers using the money from them to funnel it to Walter's other companies.
Walter and his companies are being accussed of misleading policyholders about the structure of their annuity packages by secretly sending money into a fund which allegedly was a big part of how Walter was able to buy the Dodgers in 2012 and the Lakers in 2025.
NBA saw no red flags with Walter
Mark Walter, Jeanie Buss
Credit PI via ZUMA Press Wire - Scanpix
Everyone was surprised after Mark Walter sold the Lakers this summer to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger for $12.5 billion, marking it the most expensive sports franchise sale.
Walter had just bought the Lakers for $10 billion in 2025 and many believe that he sold the team because of the federal investigation into his business empire, seeking to resolve financial and legal issues stemming from that.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver defended Walter in a recent press conference, saying that they found no red flags surrounding him.
"I would say at the time that we vetted Mark Walter to be the principal governor of the team, he was already a part owner, a minority owner in the Los Angeles Lakers. We went through the full process we all do. We spoke to governmental agencies. We spoke to, you know, in the case of, Mark Walter, in a heavily regulated insurance industry. We spoke to other leagues in which he has investments and we found no red flags," Silver told reporters.
"And again, even to this day, these are, I call them, allegations."