A new investigation is raising questions about a massive financial transaction involving Los Angeles Dodgers chairman Mark Walter and NBA legend Magic Johnson.
Journalist Pablo Torre and Sam Koppelman of Hunterbrook Media examined the relationship between the two Dodgers co-owners, including a $350 million loan involving companies connected to them.
Torre has been at the center of one of the biggest stories in sports after his reporting sparked scrutiny of the Los Angeles Clippers and their relationship with Kawhi Leonard. Now he’s turned his attention to another Los Angeles sports powerhouse.
Torre and Sam Koppelman of Hunterbrook Media examined the relationship between Walter and Johnson, including a $350 million loan involving companies connected to the two Dodgers co-owners.
Johnson became the majority owner of EquiTrust Life Insurance Company in 2014 after acquiring the company from Walter. EquiTrust eventually became the largest asset in Johnson’s business portfolio and helped push the Lakers legend into billionaire status.
Good morning. https://t.co/05qKcWC5Jo
— Pablo Torre 👀 (@PabloTorre) September 4, 2026
But Torre says there was another significant transaction between their companies.
“EquiTrust, which is this life insurance company, was being sold by Mark Walter to Magic Johnson, his fellow Dodgers co-owner,” Torre said. “And it was also loaning $350 million to Mark Walter’s media company.”
Torre and Koppelman allege the transaction was not properly disclosed as an affiliate transaction.
Walter’s broader business operations have been the subject of federal scrutiny, though his company has strongly denied wrongdoing.
The investigation also revisited Walter’s 2012 purchase of the Dodgers.
Former Miami Marlins president David Samson told Torre that Walter, Stan Kroenke and Steve Cohen had initially been bidding in roughly the same $1.5 billion range. Walter’s group ultimately agreed to pay more than $2 billion, a development Samson said surprised MLB owners.
Torre’s report examines whether favorable treatment of future Dodgers television revenue helped make the higher purchase price possible.
Walter’s company has rejected allegations of financial misconduct.
“TWG and Guggenheim have demonstrated there was no wrongdoing,” the company said in a statement, adding that affiliated transactions are common in the insurance industry and maintaining that “there is no victim here.”
Walter and Johnson have been two of the most recognizable members of the Dodgers’ ownership group for more than a decade.
Now their business relationship is receiving considerably more scrutiny.
