LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Buss family has voted to sell its 17.8% minority ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers to new majority owners Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, ESPN and The Athletic are reporting.
The decision Monday by the six children of late owner Jerry Buss will end the family's 47 years in an ownership role with the 17-time NBA champion franchise. The move also appears to end Jeanie Buss' tenure as the Lakers' governor.
“We have decided as a family to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Bob Iger group as part of the ongoing transaction,” the Buss family said in a statement issued to ESPN. “We love the Lakers, Laker fans and will continue to support Los Angeles, but it is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can.”
Jeanie Buss, the Lakers' governor since Jerry Buss' death in 2013, led the family's decision to sell a controlling stake in the Lakers to Dodgers owner Mark Walter last year at a valuation of $10 billion.
Not all of the six Buss siblings — Jeanie, Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse — were in favor of the deal despite retaining their family trust's minority ownership stake, and Joey and Jesse were fired from their front-office jobs with the team last November.
The siblings have been in frequent conflict since their father's death, with Jeanie firing Jim from his job as the Lakers' head of basketball operations in 2017, followed a week later with a lawsuit against her brothers amid an attempt by Jim and Johnny to oust Jeanie from her role as the Lakers' controlling owner.
Walter, who is under federal investigation for tax issues, abruptly reached a deal earlier this month to flip the Lakers to Kushner and Iger at a valuation of $12.5 billion, another record for a pro sports team. Venture capitalist Kushner and former Disney CEO Iger reportedly bought about 65% of the team from Walter, but will now own about 83% of the Lakers — and Jeanie Buss apparently will no longer be able to serve as their governor.
She had been allowed to keep the role at least through 2030 under the deal with Walter, and Iger said last week that the new group planned to honor that arrangement — but governors are required to control at least 15% of team ownership.
Jerry Buss was a chemist and real estate investor who bought the Lakers, the NHL's Los Angeles Kings and the Forum arena from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979 for $67.5 million. The Lakers quickly entered a renaissance in which they became known for their flashy “Showtime” style of play while winning five NBA titles between 1980 and 1988 behind Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
While the NBA and professional sports became increasingly more corporate, the Lakers remained essentially a family business despite their massive profile and steady success. Jerry Buss and the Lakers have employed many of the basketball world's greatest players and coaches of the past five decades, and Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to five additional championships between 2000 and 2010 before LeBron James added the 17th in 2020.
The sale agreement still must be approved by the NBA's board of governors, and the process could take months.
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