US prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are investigating companies associated with Mark Walter, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Lakers, and a co-owner of Chelsea Football Club. The inquiry reportedly centers on two of Walter's insurance companies, Delaware Life Insurance Company and Clear Spring Life and Annuity Company.
Sources indicate that these firms may have inadequately disclosed asset ownership related to other entities within Walter's extensive business empire. The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the SEC have issued subpoenas as part of the investigation. The FBI has reportedly executed at least one search warrant, seizing a cell phone.
Walter, who is the CEO of investment firm Guggenheim Partners and has an estimated net worth of $7.3 billion, has become a prominent figure in the sports world. He made his initial fortune on Wall Street. His business dealings have often involved utilizing insurance companies to finance acquisitions. Notably, this strategy was employed in his 2012 purchase of the Dodgers for $2 billion.
TWG Global, Walter's holding company, confirmed it is aware of and cooperating with the investigation. A statement from the company indicated that Group 1001, an entity within TWG that owns Delaware Life and Clear Spring, is undertaking "remediation plans... to reduce and restructure certain of the investments at issue."
Beyond his ownership stakes in the Dodgers, Lakers, and Chelsea, Walter also owns the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks and is a primary financial backer of the Professional Women's Hockey League. His investments extend to tennis's Billie Jean King Cup and the Cadillac Formula 1 team.
Walter was part of the consortium that acquired Chelsea FC in 2022 for £2.5 billion ($3.36 billion). He led the group that purchased the Dodgers out of bankruptcy in 2012. In 2014, he co-purchased the Sparks, and last year, he became the majority owner of the Lakers in a deal reportedly valued at $10 billion.