Ross Gerber Says Mark Walter's Lakers Sale Wasn't a Choice: 'Something Shady Going On'
Investor Ross Gerber said Los Angeles Lakers owner Mark Walter didn’t sell the team by choice, but because the federal investigation into his insurance-linked business empire left him no other option.
Violates Insurance Laws
In a post on X, the CEO of Gerber Kawasaki said Walter “possibly” built his empire using capital from the insurance companies he controls, and added that it would violate insurance laws since policyholder funds are meant to remain diversified and safe.
“By using this capital on his own ventures, he was clearly violating insurance laws…,” Gerber added.
Walter Offers Guggenheim Stake as Collateral
According to a Bloomberg report, Walter offered to pledge his stake in Guggenheim Partners LLC. as collateral, along with double-digit yields to lend capital to his holding company, TWG Global Holdings, LLC.
Gerber shared a post by Bloomberg journalist Joe Pompliano who said Walter would need roughly $5 billion beyond what the Lakers sale brings in.
The Lakers owner is selling his majority stake in the NBA franchise to investors Josh Kushner and Bob Iger for $12.5 billion, a deal that still requires approval from the NBA’s board of governors, giving Walter a roughly $2.5 billion profit less than a year after acquiring the team at a $10 billion valuation.
Federal Probe Into Walter’s Insurance Companies
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan and the SEC are investigating Guggenheim, along with two insurance companies Walter controls, Delaware Life Insurance and Clear Spring Life and Annuity, over how billions of dollars in private credit investments were disclosed to regulators.
Bloomberg citing sources, reported that TWG Global has been exploring a range of deals with outside investors in an effort to clean up loans sitting on the balance sheets of the two insurance companies.
Gerber said the sole reason Walter gives up the Lakers is because he had too, adding that “something shady going on using insurance company assets like it’s his own…”
Kushner is the Deal’s Biggest Winner
Pompliano said that Kushner, whose venture capital firm Thrive Capital has been a major artificial intelligence investor, stands to benefit most from the Lakers deal, giving him a vehicle that could legally save him hundreds of millions of dollars in personal income taxes with Thrive having several liquidity events on the horizon.
In December, OpenAI took a stake in Thrive Holdings, formed by Kushner’s venture capital firm last year, to bring AI into industries like accounting and IT.
“Josh Kushner is the biggest winner from the Lakers sale,” the Bloomberg Journalist added.
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