Los Angeles Dodgers president Stan Kasten emphasized that there will be no organizational changes within the baseball team following owner Mark Walter's decision to sell his majority stake in the Lakers. Walter is selling the basketball franchise for a reported $12.5 billion.
"This is a Lakers story, it’s not really a Dodgers story," Kasten told reporters at Dodger Stadium. "It really has nothing to do with the Dodgers. They’re completely separate. So there are no changes here."
Kasten confirmed that Walter has no intentions of selling the Dodgers, a team Walter acquired in 2012 for $2.15 billion through his Guggenheim Baseball Management group. The Dodgers president described the Lakers transaction as "opportunistic" and "something that made sense" to Walter, who had purchased the Lakers just over a year ago for $10 billion.
The sale of the Lakers comes amid a federal probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission into Walter's business empire, specifically concerning approximately $16 billion in loans from Walter-owned insurance companies that reportedly appeared on the balance sheets of his TWG Global conglomerate. Bloomberg reported earlier that TWG Global was seeking capital to reduce these loans.
While some industry observers have speculated about a connection between the Lakers sale and the ongoing investigation, Kasten stated he has "no reason to think that" the two are linked. He also said that the investigation has not involved the Dodgers in any way.
Kasten indicated he learned of the potential Lakers sale only on Tuesday and that Walter was surprised by the offer from former Disney CEO Bob Iger and venture capitalist Josh Kushner, who are buying the majority stake. "Mark had no plan to do this. This just came up, and he thought about it and said yes," Kasten explained.
Despite the questions surrounding Walter's other businesses, Kasten expressed confidence that the Dodgers' financial resources, which have supported league-record payrolls in recent seasons, will not be impacted. "I have no reason to think that," he said regarding any potential financial fallout affecting the baseball team.