Circular Financing

Mark Walter bought the Lakers for $10 billion and sold them fourteen months later for $12.5. That's a 20% return - which sounds enormous until you consider that nobody sells the Lakers after a year unless something has gone badly wrong. Chris Branch, author of The Athletic's The Pulse, joins to pull on the thread: life insurance money funding franchise purchases, a UAE sovereign wealth fund in the holding company, a Kushner and a former Disney CEO waiting on the other side. Neither of them can prove anything. Both of them can tell something is rotten.

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Timestamps:

(00:00) - Welcome and Guest Intro

(00:45) - Why the Lakers Sale Matters

(03:12) - Mark Walter’s Rise and Red Flags

(04:58) - Insurance Money and Shady Ownership

(07:24) - Sports Franchise Valuation Boom

(10:42) - Streaming Deals and Bubble Fears

(11:50) - Fans Priced Out and Losing Connection

(14:35) - What Happens Next for Walter

(18:17) - NBA Expansion Vegas vs Europe

(25:42) - When Franchise Values Could Fall

(26:55) - New Orleans Relocation History

(27:43) - NBA Valuations and Debt

(28:32) - Financing Partners and Risk

(29:25) - LSU NFL Return Loophole

(32:02) - NIL Money and No Rules

(35:03) - Universities Under Strain

(37:39) - Youth Sports Pay to Play

(39:02) - Gambling and Market Manipulation

(45:16) - Tradition vs Mercenary Players

(46:42) - Jayden Daniels NIL Clash

(50:19) - Sports as Social Barometer

(54:19) - Closing Thanks and Signoff

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Referenced in the Show:

The Pulse: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/tag/the-pulse/

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Jacob Shapiro Site: jacobshapiro.com

Jacob Shapiro LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jacob-l-s-a9337416

Jacob Twitter: x.com/JacobShap

Jacob Shapiro Substack: jashap.substack.com/subscribe

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The Jacob Shapiro Show is produced and edited by Audiographies LLC. More information at audiographies.com

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Jacob Shapiro is a speaker, consultant, author, and researcher covering global politics and affairs, economics, markets, technology, history, and culture. He speaks to audiences of all sizes around the world, helps global multinationals make strategic decisions about political risks and opportunities, and works directly with investors to grow and protect their assets in today’s volatile global environment. His insights help audiences across industries like finance, agriculture, and energy make sense of the world.

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