It’s always interesting to peel back the onion and see just who sits at the big kids table when it comes to ownership of professional sports franchises. 

For instance, did you know that Phillip Anschultz personally owns 27% of the Los Angeles Lakers? 

Do you know who Phillip Anschultz is? He keeps a much lower profile than Mark Cuban, but he’s worth more than twice as much than the Shark Tank star and has his hands in a whole lot of big name entertainment entities. 

His name is in the news Monday because he is selling his minority ownership stake in the Lakers to Mark Walter and Todd Boehly, two equally low-key wealthy people who currently own the Los Angles Dodgers. 

This transaction values the Lakers at a cool $5 billion, and it locks them in as the third highest valued NBA team behind the New York Knicks ($5.42 billion) and Golden State Warriors ($5.21 billion. 

If the NBA Board of Governors approves the deal, which they should, it will close in July. 

Okay, don’t feel bad for Anschultz, he’s still worth over $12 billion and has access to plenty of free tickets for sports and entertainment events. 

Maybe the most impressive thing about Anschultz is he’s been rich for a very long time, and is one of only two people who have made the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America every single year that Forbes has published the list since 1982. 

If you’ve ever purchased tickets for a concert or sporting event from AEG, that’s his company, Anschultz Entertainment Group. 

His company created Regal Entertainment Group, one of the nations largest movie theater chains with 7,211 screens in 549 theaters. 

AEG owns the Los Angeles Kings NHL team, Stanley Cup winners in 2012 and 2014. 

His company also owns four of the biggest and busiest venues in the world, including Staples Center, home of the Lakers, Clippers, Kings and numerous major concerts and award shows. 

AEG and Anschultz own the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, home to one of the biggest music events each year. 

The man once called “The most reclusive billionaire in the world” is also the 27th-largest land owner in the U.S.

So, no need to shed any tears for the man because doesn’t have a piece of the Lakers in his portfolio.  He’s fine. 

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