One of the VC world’s biggest stars is doubling down on sports in a big way, and there’s a compelling tax reason behind the strategy

Kushner previously owned a minority stake in the Memphis Grizzlies, then sold it and bought a small stake in the Miami Heat, which he must sell to buy the Lakers. And earlier this year, his Thrive Eternal capital holding company bought a minority a stake in the San Francisco Giants.

If the Lakers deal is approved, however, Kushner and Iger—as well as the outside investors who are expected to be part of the financing—will own about 83% of the iconic NBA franchise after the Buss family agreed to sell its share. (Jeanie Buss, however, is legally contesting her siblings’ plan to sell the stake.)

The new owners can bask in the aura of the Lakers’ storied history, celebrity fans, and overall glitz. But there’s another perk: Sports teams have long been considered great tax shelters for wealthy individuals, allowing billionaires to save hundreds of millions of dollars. “It’s a powerful tax shield,” Ram Ahluwalia, founder of Lumida Wealth Management, posted on X over the weekend. “My guess is he is preparing to offset a boatload of carried interest income. If you own a sports team, done correctly, you can get a deduction against income.”

He pointed out that Kushner is likely facing big gains from his holdings in SpaceX, OpenAI, and Stripe. Meanwhile, tax deduction benefits from owning a team are more favorable than owning real estate. By amortizing key assets like media rights and treating other assets as depreciable like contracts and the stadium, team owners can lower their tax bills. That’s possible even as a team appreciates in value while its actual business operations are also profitable.

For example, a team’s roster of players can be counted as an intangible asset that depreciates over time, generating hefty paper losses that offset an owner’s taxable income elsewhere. In fact, as much as 80% of the value of a team is comprised of intangibles. That includes the so-called goodwill that high-quality brands enjoy.

Sports industry analyst Joe Pompliano predicted that as soon as the Lakers deal closes, the new owners will allocate 90% or more of the price tag to intangible assets. “Kushner and Iger will then amortize these assets over 15 years under Section 197 of the tax code, allowing them to deduct the amortization against team income,” he said on X last week.

See you tomorrow,

Jason Ma
jason.ma@fortune.com

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Clarification, Aug. 19, 2026: This article has been updated to clarify the investment in the San Francisco Giants and the expectation for outside investors in the Lakers.

VENTURE CAPITAL

– SmackTechnologies, an El Segundo, Calif. and Austin, Texas-based developer of AI software designed for national security and defense, raised $61 million in Series B funding. CostanoaVentures and FirstIn led the round and were joined by Felicis, Point72Ventures, GeodesicCapital, NomiCapital, ScribbleVentures, FortitudeVentures, BloombergBeta, and PalumniVC.

– NetworkBio, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based developer of AI models using human biological data, raised $50 million in funding from Section32, ThielBio, FoundersFund, BreyerCapital, BlueVentureFund, JSLHealthCapital, and others.

– Craif, a Tokyo, Japan-based developer of noninvasive cancer-detection tests, raised $33 million in Series D funding. Granite-Integral and Tauns Co. led the round.

– Synthefy, a San Francisco-based developer of AI models for structured and numerical data, raised $6.5 million in seed funding. WingVentureCapital led the round and was joined by Haystack, SamsungNext, Canonical, and Lightscape.

– SingularPhotonics, an Edinburgh, Scotland-based fabless semiconductor company, raised $2.2 million in funding. ACFInvestors led the round.

PRIVATE EQUITY

– FranciscoPartners agreed to acquire Weave, a Lehi, Utah-based patient engagement and payments platform for health care practices, in a deal valued at $650 million.

– IntegrityGrowthPartners invested $22 million in PrevalentAI, a Kerala, India-based developer of enterprise data and security software.

– FutureStandard acquired a minority stake in KDC, a Bedminster, N.J.-based investment and operating firm for middle-market businesses. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– NVI, backed by GenNx360, acquired BarracudaSpecialtyServices, a Houma, La.-based inspection and rope access services company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– THLPartners agreed to acquire a majority stake in Queue-it, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based provider of software that manages high volumes of website traffic. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– Vald, backed by FTVCapital, acquired BridgeAthletic, a San Francisco-based strength and conditioning platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.

EXITS

– Medbase acquired a majority stake in ArdentisCliniquesDentaires, a Lausanne, Switzerland-based dental care provider, from ColumnaCapital. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

– ProvidenceEquityPartners agreed to acquire CheckedUp, a New York City-based patient-education and engagement software company for health care practices, from RockbridgeGrowthEquity. Financial terms were not disclosed.

FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS

– BroadwingCapital, a Dallas-based private equity firm, raised $440 million for its first fund focused on the manufacturing and services sectors.

– ReachCapital, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, raised $265 million for its fifth fund focused on the learning, health, and work industries.

PEOPLE

– ForesiteCapital, a West Hollywood, Calif. and New York City-based investment firm, hired Jorge Reis-Filho as a Venture Partner. Previously, he was with AstraZeneca.

– ScaleVenturePartners, a Foster City, Calif.-based venture capital firm, promoted Siddharth (Sidd) Ramakrishnan to Partner.

– XYZVentureCapital, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, hired ManishPatel as a General Partner. Previously, he was with NavaVentures.