Mark Walter — Los Angeles Dodgers

Controlling Owner and Chairman

THE LATEST: Walter continues to provide the financial firepower for the Dodgers organization, which ended a 32-year title drought with a World Series win in October. He became the first owner in franchise history outside of the O’Malley family to hoist a championship trophy for the city. The team’s 2021 payroll of $245 million stands to be the highest in baseball. Part of that total is a 12-year, $365 million contract extension last summer for star outfielder Mookie Betts. Walter also oversees the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, which raised more than $1 million selling fan cardboard cutouts to fill the otherwise empty Dodger Stadium last summer.
BACKGROUND: Walter secured a law degree from Northwestern but went into finance instead. As CEO of the investment firm Guggenheim Partners, he drove the acquisition of the Dodgers in 2012 for $2.15 billion in cash. His team started with Peter Guber, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Stan Kasten, Todd Boehly and Bobby Patton and added tennis legend Billie Jean King and her partner, Ilana Kloss, in 2018. In 2014, Walter’s company also bought the Women’s National Basketball Association’s Sparks, which won the 2016 title. Walter, 61, has a net worth of $4.8 billion, according to Forbes.
YEARS ON THE LA500: 3
Return to the 2021 edition of the LA500.