Is Mark Walter’s sudden sale of the LA Lakers a sign of things to come where private credit meets sport? Could his Chelsea stake be next, and what does the investigation into his finances mean for Todd Boehly?
By Paul Brown
Chelsea and the rest of the UK may be caught in the grip of a heatwave, but stormclouds are gathering for two of the club’s major shareholders, Mark Walter and Todd Boehly (*).
The pair of long-time friends invested in the west London club when Roman Abramovich was forced to sell up in 2022. Josimar has already written about how that deal loaded Chelsea with eye-watering debts at rates the club will not find easy to service.
However, the source of Walter and Boehly’s wealth - their life insurance companies - faces increased pressure from growing regulatory oversight and worsening market conditions. These headwinds could have implications for the Premier League club.
The sudden Lakers sale
Earlier this month, Walter shocked the sports world by agreeing to sell the world-famous NBA franchise LA Lakers to Josh Kushner, brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and former Disney chief Bob Iger, for a total of 12.5 billion USD. Walter had owned the Lakers for less than a year, but
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