Lenz Balan is President & CEO of the London Lions, London's professional basketball club and one of the most decorated sports organizations in British basketball history. He has led the club since 2024, when he orchestrated its rescue from administration by securing Tesonet, a leading European technology investor, as the incoming owner, before being appointed by the new board to run the organization full-time.
His route to the Lions began with his earlier role as a Principal at a Miami- and London-based family office, where he led the club's original acquisition and oversaw its initial strategic development. Before that, he built his career in private equity, mezzanine finance, and investment banking, including at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, giving him an unusual combination of financial structuring expertise and hands-on sports franchise operations experience.
At the Lions, Lenz is leading the club's next phase of growth — encompassing commercial development, community basketball programs across London, youth academy expansion, and a long-term arena development project. He sits on the Mayor of London's Basketball Taskforce, serves on the Board of the London Lions CIC — the club's community interest company, which delivers grassroots basketball and social impact programs across the capital — and has served on the Board of the POSSE Foundation, reflecting a long-standing commitment to community development and access to opportunity.
Lenz is one of the leading voices on professional basketball's role in London's sporting and real estate landscape, and on the potential for sport to anchor ambitious public-private partnerships in the capital.
