Mark Walter agreed to sell the Lakers for a record $12.5 billion after acquiring controlling ownership of the team for a reported $10 billion valuation roughly 10 months earlier. Now, it seems his entire sports empire is suddenly facing a much bigger spotlight. Bill Simmons believes the Lakers could be only the beginning of a much larger sell-off as federal officials investigate Walter’s business empire.

“Seem like he actually might go to jail,” Simmons said on his podcast. “He’s already shed himself of the Lakers. He’s selling his Chelsea stake, which is reportedly 12.5% right now. And my guess is the Dodgers are going to be next. So what is this? Are we moving towards a Bernie Madoff/Ivan Boesky type situation? Will the words Mark Walter plead guilty…will that sentence be said in the next few years?”

Walter’s portfolio stretches well beyond the Lakers. He is the majority owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, valued at about $8 billion in CNBC’s latest valuation, and the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA. He also has a minority stake in Chelsea’s ownership group, which controls RC Strasbourg, while TWG Global holds a majority stake in the Cadillac Formula One team.

Mark Walter and Todd Boehly are also reportedly willing to sell their stakes in Chelsea to Clearlake Capital. Clearlake currently owns 61.5% of the Premier League club, while Walter and Boehly each hold roughly 12.83%. That has made Simmons wonder whether the Dodgers could eventually be next.

The Dodgers sale would be far bigger for the sports landscape than simply another franchise transaction. Mark Walter’s group has overseen an aggressive spending era in Los Angeles, with the Dodgers winning consecutive World Series titles in 2024 and 2025. Simmons believes that spending is part of what makes the Dodgers such an important piece of the story.

“That’s why this is just a bigger story than the Lakers. If he has to sell the Dodgers, who spent so much money over the last seven years that they are single-handedly creating the baseball lockout next year. They also won two titles. He has had this extra money to buy this last two world series title. The Dodgers are back-to-back champions partly because of all the fucking money this guy spent.”

For now, though, there is no confirmation that Mark Walter plans to sell the Dodgers. There is no public confirmation that the Lakers sale was prompted by the investigation, although recent reporting has linked the sale to Walter’s broader efforts to raise liquidity amid the financial scrutiny. That makes the ongoing investigation especially significant for the sports world.

Federal prosecutors and the SEC are investigating financial dealings involving two Delaware insurers controlled by Walter. After internal reviews, the insurers reclassified about $21 billion in investments as related-party assets, raising questions about whether those relationships were properly disclosed to regulators.

The loans were made to companies also tied to Walter. The central concern is whether the transactions created conflicts of interest that should have been reported to regulators. Walter and TWG Global have denied wrongdoing. The company has said Walter and his businesses have acted in good faith and are cooperating with authorities.

No charges have been filed against Mark Walter. Walter has also declined to answer questions about the Lakers sale or whether the transaction was connected to the investigation. Still, the timing has fueled speculation about what could come next.