More or Less · Topics · Episode #163
Josh Kushner Buys the Lakers, Lets Bob Take the Press, and Discovers the Great Sports-Team Tax Grift
Clip from the full recording, 60:29–62:23 · download mp4 · watch at this point on YouTube
The Buss family sells the Lakers over Jeanie Buss's objection, and while Bob Kushner does the media rounds, Sam and Jess zero in on the real story: owning a sports team may be the best tax grift in America -- which is exactly why private equity was recently let into the game.
Closing out, Jess confirms the Lakers sale is real – not the on-again-off-again rumor some had heard – and that the Buss Family Trust sold its remaining position over Jeanie Buss’s objection, which carries no legal weight given the trust’s structure. Jess notes Josh Kushner (via Thrive) is clearly the one driving the deal, while his father Bob handles all the press, which amuses her – “he loves the press.”
The real substance comes from Jess’s tax reporting and Sam’s read on why private equity is even allowed into sports ownership now: depreciation on a sports franchise is, in Sam’s words, one of the greatest grifts ever from a tax perspective. Sam explains the structural shift – leagues like the NFL used to bar institutional ownership entirely, but relaxed the rules once they simply ran out of individuals wealthy enough to buy in at current valuations, and needed private equity’s balance sheets to keep prices climbing. Sam predicts strict caps remain on how much of a team any single PE fund like Thrive can own, likely limiting it to a minority stake.
Key points
- The Lakers sale is confirmed real; the Buss Family Trust sold its remaining stake over Jeanie Buss's objection, which has no legal force given the trust structure.
- Josh Kushner (via Thrive Capital) is understood to be the actual driver of the deal, while his father Bob Kushner handles the public-facing press.
- Sam: owning a sports team is "one of the greatest grifts ever from a tax perspective," largely due to depreciation benefits.
- Sam explains why leagues (the NFL among them) recently loosened rules barring institutional/PE ownership: they ran out of individual buyers rich enough to sustain rising valuations.
- Sam expects hard caps still limit any private equity fund, including Thrive, to a minority ownership stake.
- Jess notes there remain very hard caps generally on institutional ownership percentages in major leagues.
Where they landed
Quotes
“Not only is the sale happened, but the Buss Family Trust also sold their remaining position over the objection of Jeanie Buss, but unfortunately her objection does not carry weight based on the structure of the trust.”— Jess
“It turns out that only sports teams is one of the greatest grifts ever from a tax perspective.”— Sam
“They ran out of people who had enough money who could buy them. And so they started lifting the rules so that private equity could buy in because they just wanted numbers to go up.”— Sam
Suggested tweets
The Lakers sale is real. The twist: the Buss Family Trust overruled Jeanie Buss's objection entirely -- her vote just doesn't count under the trust structure.
Tweet this →“One of the greatest grifts ever from a tax perspective.” Sam Lessin on why buying a sports team is such a good move for Josh Kushner right now.
Tweet this →Private equity got let into sports ownership for one reason, says Sam Lessin: the leagues simply ran out of individuals rich enough to keep prices climbing.
Tweet this →All topics · Full episode #163 + transcript · Subscribe on YouTube · Spotify