This week, it was announced that the Buss family is selling a majority ownership in the Los Angeles Lakers at a $10 billion valuation. That’s a huge sum for a sports franchise and reportedly the richest deal for a sports team in history (see here).

When I read the headline, I immediately thought about Jack Kent Cooke and Adrian Havill’s biography of him, The Last Mogul. Cooke built a fortune in newspapers and radio in Canada working alongside Roy Thomson (think Thomson Reuters), whose family is now the wealthiest family in Canada. Cooke then moved to L.A. and purchased the Lakers in 1965. He paid what was then a record price of $5.17 million. In 1966, he spent $17 million building the famous Forum in L.A. so the Lakers and the Kings, the NHL hockey team he also owned, could play in the same arena.

Jack signed Wilt Chamberlain to the Lakers. He traded for Kareem Abdul Jabbar. And he drafted Earvin “Magic” Johnson in 1979. The Lakers won a championship under Jack and were on their way to dominating the 1980s.

But Jack ended up getting divorced and, as a result, selling the Forum, the Kings, the Lakers, and his ranch to Jerry Buss in June 1979 for $67 million. Forty-six years later, the Buss family is selling the Lakers for $10 billion.

It’s wild to think about how the valuation of the Lakers has skyrocketed. In 60 years, the team has gone from being worth a little over $5 million to being worth $10 billion. That’s a roughly 13.5% compound annual growth rate—a striking example of the power of compounding (another example here).

If you’re interested in reading more about Jack, Havill’s biography is great. I also posted a series of posts about what I learned from the book. The Lakers deals are specifically covered here and here.