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Bob Iger is beginning a new chapter in his business career. The former Disney CEO has joined forces with investor Joshua Kushner to acquire the Los Angeles Lakers, in a deal that values one of the world’s best-known sports franchises at US$12.5 billion.
More than simply a major transaction in the sports industry, the deal is particularly noteworthy because of the people behind it. For decades, Iger was closely associated with managing some of the most valuable brands in the entertainment industry. Now, he is taking that experience into a different world, but one that shares something essential with Disney: the ability to transform stories, characters and communities into global brands.
Bob Iger’s career has been defined by decisions that helped reshape Disney. Under his leadership, the company completed a series of acquisitions that transformed its portfolio, including Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and much of 21st Century Fox. Rather than simply buying companies, Iger built a strategy around identifying brands capable of transcending generations and finding new forms of distribution, content and audience engagement.
It is precisely this track record that makes his move into the Lakers particularly interesting. The franchise is not simply a basketball team. It is a global brand built over decades, associated with names such as Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, and deeply embedded in the culture of Los Angeles.
Iger is not entering this venture as someone unfamiliar with that world, either. The executive is known to be a long-time Lakers fan, turning a personal connection into one of the biggest investment decisions of his career.
There is an interesting pattern throughout Bob Iger’s career: he appears to understand that some businesses are worth far more than the products they sell.
Marvel was not simply a film studio. Star Wars was not merely a film franchise. And the Lakers are not simply a team that plays basketball.
They are all ecosystems built around stories, symbols, characters, memories and fiercely loyal communities.
Perhaps this is one of the most valuable lessons from Iger’s career for business leaders: great brands are not built simply to attract consumers. They create communities of people who want to belong to what those brands represent.
Buying the Lakers after a career devoted to entertainment may seem like a radical change. In reality, it may be a remarkably consistent continuation of the same strategy.
Bob Iger spent decades managing stories capable of creating fans.
Now, he is investing in a brand that already has millions of them.
Does the true value of a great company lie in the product it sells — or in the community it is able to build around its brand?
