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Mark Walter
American businessman (born 1960) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Mark Richard Walter (born January 1, 1960) is an American businessman, philanthropist and the chief executive officer of Guggenheim Partners, a privately held global financial services firm with more than $345 billion in assets under management.[1] He is also the CEO and co-chairman of TWG Global, an American multinational holding company.
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Walter is most known for his investments in professional sports. He is the primary owner and chairman of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers have won two World Series under his leadership. He is also the primary owner of auto racing organization Andretti Global, which operates the Cadillac Formula 1 team; the Women's National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Sparks; and the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). In addition, he owns 12.7% of BlueCo, a holding company that controls Premier League club Chelsea, Ligue 1 club RC Strasbourg, and part of the Billie Jean King Cup.
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Career
In 1996, Walter, Tom Irvin and Steven E. Johnson co-founded the Liberty Hampshire Company.[2] In 1999, he helped found Guggenheim Partners with assistance from Guggenheim family heir Peter Lawson-Johnson II;[3][4] he now serves as its CEO.[5][6] Through his work at Guggenheim, he got to know future investment partner Todd Boehly, who spent 14 years with the firm.[7][8]
In May 2024, Walter co-founded TWG Global,[6] and is its CEO, co-chairman and 21% owner.[9][10] He is the controlling shareholder of Delaware Life Holdings, LLC, and serves on the board of EquiTrust Life.[11]
Walter has a personal stake in Beyond Meat.[12] In addition, in 2021, it was reported that Walter had purchased numerous commercial and historic buildings in Crested Butte, Colorado, where his family frequently vacations,[3] for an unknown purpose.[13][14]
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Sports investments
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Walter also uses sports to advertise his insurance companies, particularly TWG Global subsidiary Gainbridge, headquartered in Zionsville, Indiana.[15] It has sponsored racing team Andretti Global since 2018,[16][17] and the Indianapolis 500.[16] In 2021, it bought the naming rights to the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever's home arena, now known as Gainbridge Fieldhouse.[18] It also signed Fever basketball player Caitlin Clark as a brand ambassador in 2024.[19]
Los Angeles Dodgers
According to a family representative, Walter owns 27% of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.[9] In 2012, he led Guggenheim Baseball Management's $2.15 billion purchase of the team[20] using cash from Guggenheim's investments in insurance investments and annuities.[21][22] Walter and his partner investors provided collateral to the insurers, including Dodgers shares, Walter's stake in Carvana, and various Wendy's hamburger franchises.[23] His personal contribution was reportedly $100 million,[24] with Guggenheim Partners-related businesses contributing another $1.213 billion.[25] The precise contribution from insurance companies has been disputed, with The Wall Street Journal estimating a contribution of "at least $300 million"[23] and LA Weekly putting the figure at $100 million.[22] Other members of the Guggenheim consortium include Peter Guber, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Stan Kasten, Todd Boehly, Bobby Patton, Billie Jean King, Ilana Kloss, Alan Smolinisky, and Robert L. Plummer.[26][27][28]
Guggenheim's investments in sports have been questioned by industry commentators as riskier investments than insurance.[29] After insurers reportedly contributed at least $300 million to the Dodgers bid, government regulators investigated the arrangement but declined to take further action.[23]
The price paid for the Dodgers was initially reported as high[20] as Forbes had valued the team at $1.4 billion and rivals were considering opening bids in the $1.6 billion range.[30] Walter was attempting to outbid Steven A. Cohen,[20] who had already offered $2 billion to Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.[31]
Walter appointed Stan Kasten to run the team.[21] Under Walter, Kasten, and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman,[32] the team became baseball's "most perennially competitive team,"[33] and won the World Series in 2020 and 2024.[34] Less than a year after Guggenheim bought the team, the Dodgers signed a television deal that increased their payroll.[21]
Los Angeles Lakers
Walter is the majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team.[35] In 2021, he and Boehly purchased Philip Anschutz's 27% stake.[9][36] On June 18, 2025, ESPN reported that Walter had agreed to buy majority control of the team from the Buss family at a $10 billion valuation.[35] The Los Angeles Times reported that TWG Global would also be involved in the purchase.[37]
Los Angeles Sparks
Since 2014, Walter and Magic Johnson have led the ownership group for the Los Angeles Sparks women's basketball team.[38] Walter personally owns one-sixth of the franchise,[9] which he co-owns with several other Dodgers partners.[39] He credited Johnson with giving him the idea to "save the Sparks and keep them in Los Angeles."[38]
Other
Walter once led a consortium that bid for Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the Los Angeles Kings and is the Lakers' landlord, but Philip Anschutz decided to keep the company.[24] He also joined David Geffen, Oprah Winfrey, and Larry Ellison's unsuccessful 2014 bid for the Los Angeles Clippers,[40] which eventually went to Steve Ballmer.[24]
European football ownership (Chelsea, Strasbourg)
Walter owns 12.7% of BlueCo,[9] a holding company that bought English Premier League football club Chelsea in 2022 and Ligue 1 club RC Strasbourg Alsace in 2023.[7] Walter serves on Chelsea's board,[41] but does not play an active role in day-to-day operations.[7]
Women's ice hockey
Walter owns North America's top-level professional women's ice hockey league, the Professional Women's Hockey League.[42] In collaboration with Dodgers partners Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss, Walter formed a unified league by consolidating the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association with the remnants of its rival, the Premier Hockey Federation.[43][44] The purchase ended the PWHPA's boycott of the PHF, which the PWHPA was pressuring to invest more in the sport.[45][46]
Walter invested in the league[44] and appointed the Dodgers' Stan Kasten to oversee the league's business operations,[47] which began play in 2024.[42] The Mark Walter Group owns the inaugural six teams.[48][49] The league's championship trophy is named after Mark and Kimbra Walter.[44]
Squash
Walter and his wife were the primary financial backers of the 2018–19 PSA World Squash Championships; with their help, the event presented its largest winners' purses in history. They continue to back the event, as well as the Windy City Open.[50]
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Personal life
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Mark Walter is a native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and graduated from Cedar Rapids Jefferson High School in 1978.[51] His father, Ed, worked at a local concrete block manufacturing plant.[51] Growing up, he was a fan of the Chicago Cubs baseball team.[52]
Walter attended Creighton University, where he studied accounting and graduated with a bachelor's degree in business in 1982.[3] He then graduated from Northwestern University Law School in 1985.[3][12]
In 2011, Walter made a $30,800 contribution to the Democratic National Committee, as well as a $5,000 contribution to Obama for America.[3]
Walter is married to Kimbra Walter, an attorney. She attended Northwestern University and Southern Methodist University Law School.[53] They have a daughter and live in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago.[3]
Walter gave Northwestern's law school $40 million in 2014[12] and endowed a law scholarship with his wife in 2015.[54]
In September 2025, Bloomberg estimated that he had a net worth of $13.3 billion.[55]
Philanthropy
Walter serves as a trustee of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation;[56][57] Creighton University;[58] Northwestern University;[59] and the Field Museum.[60] Kimbra Walter is a trustee of the Lincoln Park Zoo.[61]
Walter and his wife invest together in numerous philanthropic causes, including the White Oak Conservation,[62] an animal refuge in Florida. Walter bought the facility in 2013 which has cared for many endangered species, including the Florida grasshopper sparrow.[63][64]
Walter leads the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, which is committed to promoting education and health in the greater Los Angeles community.[65] He donated $50 million at the start of the 2024 season and an additional $50 million when the Dodgers made it to the World Series.[66]
Walter collaborated with Billie Jean King to create the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), leading to its inaugural season in 2023-2024.[67] In October 2024, he was then awarded the Billie Jean King Leadership Award for his role in starting the league and as he pledged $5.5 million to the Women's Sports Foundation.[68]
In 2025, he became a leader of LA Rises, a fundraising group assigned by California Governor Gavin Newsom to support rebuilding after the area's wildfires early in the year, and organized the first $100 million donation.[69]
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References
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