LeBron James’ LLC borrowed $300 million from Mark Walter-led Guggenheim before joining LA Lakers

Prior to either of their associations with the LA Lakers , Mark Walter's Guggenheim Partners lent LeBron James $300 million for a new company.

In 2018, as James geared up to sign with the Lakers in free agency, part of his decision to move to the City of Angels was because of his desire to pursue outside business ventures.

Part of this involved setting up a new LLC, which required a massive injection of cash flow. Unbeknownst to him at the time, the man who would end up buying the Lakers seven years later played a crucial part in this.

LeBron James' LLC borrowed $300 million from Mark Walter's Guggenheim Partners

According to reporting from Bloomberg , just a few months prior to him signing with the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James got into business with future team owner Mark Walter.

In 2018, James' LLC borrowed $300 million from two life insurance companies that were associated with Guggenheim Partners.

At the time, Walter was the CEO of Guggenheim Partners. The amount is due in 2049, allowing James the cash flow his company needed, being leveraged against James' sponsorship and non-NBA earnings.

Furthermore, in 2022, James signed a $97 million contract extension with the Lakers. At the same time, his LLC borrowed more cash from the pair of insurance companies against bonds worth $60 million with an interest rate of 5.75%.

These transactions were approved by the NBA at the time, as they explained in a statement to Fox Business when asked about the matter.

"The 2018 and 2022 transactions were a securitisation done by Mr. James with his personal, non-NBA salary, assets and income, which is a very common financial structure for an individual with this level of earnings and assets.

"Both transactions were fully approved by NBA. Mr. James has no affiliation with Guggenheim, Sammons Financial, North American Life or Midland National beyond their participation in these transactions."

Fast forward to the summer of 2025, and James would become a direct associate of Walter, who purchased the LA Lakers for a then-record $10 billion.

Since James' departure this summer, Walter has sold the Lakers to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner for a whopping $12.5 billion, amid an investigation into his financial activity.

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