Mark Walter is putting a lock down on controlling sports in Los Angeles. And the new majority owner of one of the NBA's biggest franchises, the Los Angeles Lakers, was born in Iowa.
Walter, the chief executive officer of Guggenheim Partners, was born in Cedar Rapids and graduated from Cedar Rapids Jefferson before earning degrees from Creighton University and Northwestern University.
Born in 1978, Mark's father worked at a local concrete block manufacturing plant. He helped found Guggenheim Partners in 2000 and is estimated by Forbes in 2025 to have a net work of $6.1 billion.
Walter and Guggenheim purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012 and owns a piece of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks along with being a co-owner of multiple motorsport teams including Andretti Global and Cadillac Formula 1 Team.
On Wednesday, Walter added the Lakers to his resume, purchasing the team from the Buss family. ESPN is reporting the sell is believed to be approximately $10 billion.
Walter has been a stakeholder in the Lakers since 2021 with former great Magic Johnson being part of the investment group that purchased the Dodgers.
"A few things I can tell you about Mark - he is driven by winning, excellence and doing everything the right way," Johnson posted on X. "AND he will put in the resources needed to win."