Bill Simmons says the proposed Los Angeles Lakers sale is still hanging on the money, and a lot of it.
On The Bill Simmons Podcast, he claimed Josh Kushner is still short somewhere between $5 billion and $6 billion as the group works toward the $12.5 billion deal to buy the franchise from Mark Walter.
“The Lakers guy doesn’t have the money yet. That $12.5 billion that he has to pay to Mark Walter, he’s still searching for about $5-6 billion of it.
He doesn’t have it yet. I’m talking about Josh Kushner.”
Simmons also said Kushner’s partner, former Disney CEO Bob Iger, is only expected to put in a relatively small piece of the transaction.
“Guess who’s not putting in really any money? Bob Iger.
He’s putting in the minimum. The minimum’s like $63 million.
That’s what he’s putting in. Kushner has to find all this other money, but this is a lot of money.
The deadline’s coming, and I think they’re using the Buss family as scapegoats for why the deal’s dragging along, but he can’t find the money.”
He added: “He needs to find four or five billion-dollar guys that will come in and buy whatever percent. People think this deal’s going to be done.
I don’t know. I don’t know.”
The proposed deal has been valued at $12.5 billion, but that figure should not be read as the exact cash amount owed to Walter without the full ownership and transaction structure.
Simmons said Iger’s contribution would be around $63 million. His personal fortune is estimated at roughly $600 million, though that is an outside estimate rather than a public disclosure of his finances.
Kushner’s wealth is much larger by comparison. Forbes lists him at $16.7 billion, with much of that tied to Thrive Capital, the venture capital firm he founded. Forbes says he owns about 66% of the firm.
Thrive, according to Forbes, manages more than $65 billion in assets. That does not mean Kushner has $65 billion sitting in cash for a team purchase; it refers to capital managed by the firm, including money from investors.
That distinction matters because a billionaire’s net worth can be tied up in ownership stakes and investments that are not immediately available for a purchase like this. In other words, a big number on a Forbes list does not automatically mean the financing is already locked in.
Simmons also suggested the Buss family dispute was being used as cover for the delay, though that was his allegation and not something he backed up with financing documents or a breakdown of the missing commitments.
For now, the key question is simple: can the group line up the required money and finish the deal? Simmons says that part is still very much unresolved.
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