The Golden State Warriors have gone from a struggling franchise to the most recognizable brand in basketball, and the men behind that turnaround are Joe Lacob and Peter Guber.
The pair have led the ownership group since July 2010, when they purchased the team from Chris Cohan for a then record $450 million.
Fifteen years later, the Warriors are one of the most valuable franchises in professional sports, with Forbes pegging the team near $11 billion.
Along the way, Lacob and Guber built Chase Center in San Francisco, launched the Golden State Valkyries WNBA expansion team, and presided over a dynasty built around Stephen Curry that produced four championships.
This guide covers who actually controls the franchise, how the ownership group is structured, and why talk of a new stake sale keeps making headlines in 2026.
| Team | Golden State Warriors |
| Majority Owners | Joe Lacob and Peter Guber |
| Purchased | July 2010, for $450 million |
| Bought From | Chris Cohan |
| 2025 Forbes Valuation | Approximately $11 billion |
| Home Arena | Chase Center, San Francisco (opened 2019) |
| Minority Investor | Arctos Sports Partners, roughly 15 percent |
| Championships | 7 total, including 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022 under current ownership |
Table of Contents
Who Owns the Golden State Warriors in 2026
Joe Lacob is the controlling owner and chairman of the Golden State Warriors, with Peter Guber serving as vice chairman and co executive chairman.
The two men, along with an original group of about nineteen investors announced in November 2010, took over an organization that had spent years near the bottom of the NBA standings.
Under Lacob and Guber, the Warriors won four titles between 2015 and 2022, built one of the league’s premier arenas, and became the model franchise other owners now study.
The wider investor group has included tech and business figures such as Vivek Ranadive, Chad Hurley, Bruce Karsh, Nick Swinmurn, and Chamath Palihapitiya, though Lacob and Guber retain operating control of the franchise.
Private equity firm Arctos Sports Partners has also acquired a reported minority position of roughly 15 percent, a common structure among modern NBA ownership groups that need outside capital to fund arena projects and expansion fees.
Warriors Ownership Structure
Majority Owner and Chairman
Vice Chairman and Co Executive Chairman
Minority investor, about 15 percent
Roughly two dozen individual investors
Ownership Timeline: From Franklin Mieuli To The Lacob And Guber Era
Mieuli acquires a majority stake and later relocates the club from Philadelphia to the Bay Area.
The team drops the San Francisco name to represent the entire Bay Area region.
Cohan buys the franchise and presides over a stretch of losing seasons and front office turmoil.
The duo purchase the Warriors for a then record $450 million, ending the Cohan ownership era.
The Warriors win their first championship of the Lacob and Guber era, launching the dynasty.
The team moves from Oracle Arena in Oakland into its privately funded arena in San Francisco.
The same ownership group launches the Golden State Valkyries as an expansion franchise.
Reports emerge that minority investors are exploring a sale of a small stake at an $11 billion valuation.
How Joe Lacob And Peter Guber Bought The Warriors
Lacob spent years as a venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins before turning his attention to sports ownership, while Guber built a career as a Hollywood producer and had previously owned pieces of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Golden State Warriors themselves in the 1990s.
Their partnership combined operational discipline with entertainment instincts, a mix that former team president Rick Welts described as an approach where the two would settle for nothing less than “great.”
The $450 million purchase price in 2010 was, at the time, the highest ever paid for an NBA franchise.
According to Wikipedia’s history of the franchise, an expanded nineteen person ownership group was formally announced that November, giving the club a broader base of capital just as it began rebuilding around young talent like Stephen Curry.
Is Joe Lacob A Good Owner
By most measures, yes.
Lacob and Guber have overseen four championships, a top ranked arena, and a franchise valuation that grew roughly 24 times over from the 2010 purchase price.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has singled out the pair for their ownership continuity at a time when many teams have changed hands, calling that stability important for the league.
Lacob has not been without controversy.
He was famously booed by fans in 2012 after trading fan favorite Monta Ellis for Andrew Bogut during Chris Mullin’s jersey retirement ceremony, a trade that later proved essential to the team’s championship core.
He has also drawn criticism for paying luxury tax bills in nine of the last eleven seasons, a cost some smaller market owners are unwilling to absorb.
On balance, the Golden State Community Foundation has surpassed $50 million in cumulative giving under the current ownership, and the on court results speak for themselves.
Are The Warriors For Sale In 2026
The Warriors as a whole are not for sale, but a slice of the ownership group is in play.
Reports from January 2026 indicated that Lacob and Guber’s investment group was exploring a sale of about 5 percent of the franchise to sovereign wealth funds or ultra wealthy individuals, at a valuation near $11 billion, according to Bloomberg’s reporting.
The team’s official stance has remained that it does not comment on the potential sale or non sale of stakes among its investors.
This is not the first time minority shares have changed hands.
Private equity firm Arctos Sports Partners already holds an estimated 15 percent of the franchise, part of a broader trend of institutional capital entering major sports ownership groups.
Any new sale would likely value the entire portfolio, which includes the Warriors, Chase Center, the Thrive City development, and the Golden State Valkyries.
Chase Center And The Business Of The Warriors
One of the clearest signs of Lacob and Guber’s business approach was their decision to leave Oracle Arena in Oakland and self fund a new arena in San Francisco.
Chase Center opened in October 2019 at a cost of roughly $1.4 billion, financed almost entirely with private capital and named through a naming rights deal with JPMorgan Chase.
The move paid off financially.
According to Forbes’ team valuation data, the Warriors generated roughly $880 million in revenue during the 2024 to 2025 season, with operating income near $409 million and gate receipts of about $307 million, figures that place the franchise among the top revenue generators in all of professional sports, not just the NBA.
The Warriors Dynasty Era Under Lacob And Guber
The current ownership group inherited a franchise that had not won a championship since 1975.
Between 2015 and 2019, the Warriors reached five consecutive NBA Finals and won three titles, built around Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, with Kevin Durant joining for two of those championship runs.
A fourth title followed in 2022 after Curry, Thompson, and Green returned from injury setbacks to prove the core group could win without outside superstar additions.
That run of success is central to why the franchise commands such a high valuation today.
Sustained winning drove ticket demand, sponsorship interest, and the kind of global brand recognition that few NBA teams enjoy, turning a once struggling Bay Area club into a model franchise other owners now try to copy.
How The Warriors Compare To Other NBA Ownership Groups
The Warriors’ $11 billion valuation places them near the very top of the league, alongside the Los Angeles Lakers, who were sold to Mark Walter’s group at a $10 billion valuation in mid 2025 before a later stake sale to investors including Josh Kushner and Bob Iger pushed that figure toward $12.5 billion.
Where the Lakers changed hands entirely, the Warriors have kept the same controlling owners for fifteen years, a rarity in a league that has seen several marquee franchises sell in just the past few seasons.
That continuity is one reason league executives and analysts point to the Warriors as a case study in long term franchise building.
Rather than flipping the team for a quick profit, Lacob and Guber reinvested in the roster, the arena, and the surrounding real estate, a strategy that has compounded the value of their original $450 million purchase many times over.
For a look at how another major sports property structures its ownership, see our breakdown of who owns the NFL.
What Is Next For Warriors Ownership
Joe Lacob has said he wants to remain involved beyond the Curry era, framing the next phase of ownership as a second act for the franchise rather than an exit.
That likely means continued investment in the roster and in the Thrive City development around Chase Center, alongside periodic minority stake sales that let early investors cash out some of their gains while Lacob and Guber retain control.
The ownership group’s decision to launch the Golden State Valkyries in the WNBA also signals an appetite for expansion beyond the core basketball product.
Our related guide on who owns the Golden State Valkyries covers how that record setting expansion fee fits into the same Lacob and Guber portfolio.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the majority owner of the Golden State Warriors?
Joe Lacob is the controlling owner and chairman of the Golden State Warriors, having led the purchase of the team in 2010 alongside Peter Guber.
How much did Joe Lacob and Peter Guber pay for the Warriors?
Lacob and Guber purchased the Warriors from Chris Cohan for $450 million in July 2010, which was a record price for an NBA franchise at the time.
How much are the Golden State Warriors worth in 2026?
Forbes valued the franchise near $11 billion in its most recent NBA team valuations, and reports around a potential minority stake sale in January 2026 used a similar figure.
Do the Warriors own the Golden State Valkyries too?
Yes, the Golden State Valkyries WNBA team was launched by the same Lacob and Guber ownership group that controls the Warriors, expanding their portfolio into women’s basketball.
I am Jack Neel, a mechanical engineer, researcher, and writer. I created this website to share my knowledge about different brands and products with you. I research the manufacturers behind the brands and provide you with the information you need to make smart buying decisions.