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Mark Walter Is Creating a Sports Empire With $10 Billion Lakers

LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers makes a shot against Dillon Brooks of the Houston Rockets at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on March 31.

Photographer: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Takeaways by Bloomberg AI

For just under $10 billion, private equity firm 3G Capital recently bought Skechers — an ascendant global footwear brand with $9 billion in annual sales and 20,000 employees spread across 5,300 stores.

For the same sum, you could now buy the Los Angeles Lakers — a basketball team that generates an estimated $500 million a year, employs 1,000 people, and sells little more than TV rights, tickets, and dreams — plus a century of star-studded mystique.