Mark Walter, who already sold his majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers just one year after purchasing the NBA team, might be selling off yet another sports asset.
Walter and business partner Todd Boehly are reportedly looking to sell their stakes in Chelsea Football Club of the English Premier League, according to the Financial Times.
Walter and Boehly are hoping to sell their stakes to Clearlake Capital, the majority owner of one of the most popular soccer teams in the entire world.
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Clearlake Capital reportedly has had some friction with the two minority stakeholders after they purchased a piece of the club four years ago. The outlet reported there have been negotiation talks for years between both sides, but no deal was made.
Walter and Boehly bought stakes in Chelsea in May 2022, as BlueCo, a consortium run by Boehly, and Clearlake Capital bought the club from Roman Abramovich.
BUSS FAMILY AGREES TO SELL REMAINING LAKERS OWNERSHIP STAKE TO JOSH KUSHNER, BOB IGER GROUP
The news is quite interesting, though, as Walter agreed to sell the Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger for a record $12.5 billion after just purchasing the ownership stake from the Buss family for $10 billion last year.
In June 2025, the Buss family decided to sell the Lakers to Walter for $10 billion. There was, however, some in the Buss family who felt misled by Jeanie Buss in what they characterized as a rushed sale, per ESPN. They felt pressured to vote for the sale to go through.
In the end, all six siblings said “yes” to the sale, which closed in October 2025. The sale gave each sibling $500 million post-tax. After the sale to Walter, Buss was allowed to remain the governor of the Lakers given the 17.8% ownership stake still intact.
Word came out Monday that the Buss family is now looking to tack onto the deal with Kushner and Iger to sell their remaining shares in the NBA team, which would give the new ownership group a whopping 83% majority in one of the most iconic basketball franchises in the world. However, new reports indicate Jeanie was the only sibling that did not wish to relinquish ownership, and will be fighting the decision made, per multiple outlets.
Walter’s surprise sale of the Lakers comes amid a federal investigation into the Guggenheim Partners CEO. It was reported that the FBI recently seized Walter’s phone and laptop, as well as a high-ranking Guggenheim Investments executive’s this past year.
Some are viewing the Lakers’ sale as a quick way to liquify assets for Walter with potential legal problems ahead, and now Chelsea could be yet another way to do so.
Chelsea was sold to the group for a total 2.5 billion pounds back in 2022. An extra 1.75 billion pounds was committed for future investment in the signature Stamford Bridge stadium, the Chelsea academy, the women’s team and the Chelsea Foundation.
The current valuation of Chelsea is estimated to be around 5 billion pounds.
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