# Eisman says Walter routed policyholder money to a controlled entity

Markdown copy of https://realalpha.app/s/eisman-says-walter-routed-policyholder-money-to-a-controlled/ on Real Alpha, the best minutes from long interviews with the people building AI. Cite and link the page, not this copy.

- Speaker: [Steve Eisman](https://realalpha.app/people/steve-eisman/) (Host) · The Real Eisman Playbook
- Show: The Real Eisman Playbook
- Episode: [Why Young Americans Feel Locked Out with the Lemonade Stand Podcast | The Real Eisman Playbook Ep 82](https://realalpha.app/v/pTFWpojm1dU/), Nov 2, 2026
- Moment: 42:37 to 48:13 of the episode (6 min), playing on https://realalpha.app/s/eisman-says-walter-routed-policyholder-money-to-a-controlled/; the episode from there: https://realalpha.app/v/pTFWpojm1dU/?t=2557

## Quote

> “He took **policyholder money**, he lent it to an entity that he controlled, and that entity bought the L.A. Dodgers and the L.A. Lakers.”
> — [Steve Eisman](https://realalpha.app/people/steve-eisman/) at [46:25](https://realalpha.app/v/pTFWpojm1dU/?t=2785) · The Real Eisman Playbook

## Takeaways

1. State regulators oversee insurers, and their rules vary.
2. Eisman says Walter routed policyholder money to a controlled entity.
3. He says the related-party exposure exceeded limits and was undisclosed.

## About this segment

Steve Eisman describes Mark Walter's insurer-backed loans to an entity he controlled, which bought the Lakers and Dodgers. He says the related-party exposure exceeded limits and was not disclosed.

From “Why Young Americans Feel Locked Out with the Lemonade Stand Podcast | The Real Eisman Playbook Ep 82”, Nov 2, 2026. [Watch the full episode](https://realalpha.app/v/pTFWpojm1dU/)

## Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

[42:44](https://realalpha.app/v/pTFWpojm1dU/?t=2564) And we asked you what your nightmare scenario was. Things have changed a little bit since I was on your show. A hundred percent. Name one thing. Since we're sailing. Like, I'm talking about, we asked what your nightmare scenario, your worst scenario was. And what did I say? And you said, you're a little bit worried at the time about private equity, not the software part of it, them buying up insurance companies, levering them with debt.

[43:09](https://realalpha.app/v/pTFWpojm1dU/?t=2589) Oh, yes. And then when they fail, whether from software or otherwise, when they fail, it's on the policy holder. And now we have to bail out the insurance companies to bail it. Like, that's, and I don't know if your risk on that is increased or decreased. Oh, it's definitely increased. But it seems – because we're hearing it with, like, the former Lakers owner and all this stuff of, like, they're tied into insurance.

[43:30](https://realalpha.app/v/pTFWpojm1dU/?t=2610) I'll tell you a great – so we had on the podcast just an examination of Mark Walter, who we're talking about, and his insurance company. Yeah. Just a whole podcast on that. I've got to watch that one. It was really good. I'm fascinated. I'm trying to learn more. And what I thought was sort of the most revealing thing was the person who I was interviewing who was an insurance examiner, had been an insurance examiner, pointed out, this part I knew, that in the United States, insurance companies are regulated by the states.

[44:02](https://realalpha.app/v/pTFWpojm1dU/?t=2642) There are basically 50 states with insurance regulators, and you get to choose. They're all different. And they're all different, and you basically get the forum shop. Yikes, okay. Because, oh, he's more lenient. We're going here. Right, right. Okay, so Mark Walter has a bunch of insurance companies, and they're not tiny, and they're all based in Delaware. Okay, I don't find that alarming. Sure. He was coming to the alarming part.

[44:29](https://realalpha.app/v/pTFWpojm1dU/?t=2669) So he says, he says, you know, that in Delaware, there's an insurance regulator and the insurance regulator is in an elected official. OK. I said, OK, this is very common. I think California is the same way. OK. And so he says to me, what do you think this guy did? This guy who was now the guy who won the election, the guy who won the election, who's now regulating Mark, Mark Walter's insurance company.

[44:57](https://realalpha.app/v/pTFWpojm1dU/?t=2697) what do you think he did before he was the insurance regulator? I'm going to take a stab at it. I think he may have been working at one of the insurance companies. A bit of a revolving door scenario. Good guess, but you were so far off. Oh, really? Wow. Go ahead. Is he Mark Walters' best friend? No. He was a sheriff. Okay. Wow. Okay. And so I said to him, you know, that's not that crazy. I support my local sheriff. Sure. But I don't support my local sheriff who knows absolutely nothing about financials to be the regulator It's funny the bar is so low for me that I'm like, wait a few while to get it.

[45:32](https://realalpha.app/v/pTFWpojm1dU/?t=2732) I was like, as long as there's not a direct tie to the guy, I'll take anybody. Man on the street. Just goes to show you how we've been dumbed down. Yeah, exactly. No, I don't need an expert. I just need someone who's not Mark Walter. I mean, this has been building and brewing for a long time now because private equity, private credit takes the view, not crazy, that they create very, very long-tailed loans.

[46:01](https://realalpha.app/v/pTFWpojm1dU/?t=2761) So therefore, if they could find something that has long-term funding, let's marry the two. That's insurance. Yeah. That was always the concept. Sure. You know, it was basically created by Apollo when they bought Athene, and then everybody started piggybacking on it. I don't have a problem with it in theory. Sure. nothing wrong with it in theory i think the problem is you get people like mark walter so what he so what he did was He took policyholder money, he lent it to an entity that he controlled, and that entity bought the L.A. Dodgers and the L.A. Lakers.

[46:45](https://realalpha.app/v/pTFWpojm1dU/?t=2805) Now, you're only allowed to have like a certain percentage of your equity and your assets in what's called related party transactions. Meaning, like, you know, if you were my brother and I ran the insurance company, I can't lend money to you. That would be a related party transaction. Or if I lend money to myself to buy the LA Lakers, that would be a related party transaction. I mean, he's like 30 times higher than he's supposed to be, but he didn't disclose it.

[47:13](https://realalpha.app/v/pTFWpojm1dU/?t=2833) Sure. That's the scandal. Okay. But I think there's probably tons of other people out there like that. But then so, and maybe you, I just don't know, why was he forced to sell? What? Oh, so he was forced to sell because somebody squealed. Okay. And he had basically had only disclosed like three related party transactions. Okay. It turned out that there were 40. And they're massive. Someone who was betting unders on Luka Doncic all last season was like, I'm fucking done.

[47:44](https://realalpha.app/v/pTFWpojm1dU/?t=2864) I'm telling. I'm blowing the whistle. I'm blowing the whistle, Mark. So he had to sell stuff to get the percentage down. Okay. So he sold the LA Lakers to raise cash so that that percent, he's still above the percentage, but he keeps selling stuff to get it down. He's trying to get his banning ship, everything off the boat. And now he's being investigated by the Southern District of New York. Like, that's serious, as opposed to the sheriff in Delaware.

[48:06](https://realalpha.app/v/pTFWpojm1dU/?t=2886) Well, him and Shohei can commiserate.