Jeanie Buss seeks to block sale of Buss family’s remaining 17.8% stake in Los Angeles Lakers
Jeanie Buss is attempting to prevent her siblings from selling the Buss family’s remaining 17.8% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers, her lawyer said on 18 August 2026, after a deal was announced last week to transfer controlling interest in the franchise. The planned sale follows an agreement by Josh Kushner and Bob Iger to buy the controlling interest from Mark Walter for $12.5bn (£9.3bn).
The Kushner-Iger agreement, reached last week, would acquire the controlling interest that Mark Walter agreed to sell after buying his share from the Buss family last year for about $10bn (£7.45bn). The Buss family trust — made up of Jerry Buss’ six children — issued a statement on Monday saying they had voted to sell their remaining shares, adding: "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 statement continued: "We love the Lakers, Lakers 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 has served as governor of the Lakers since her father’s death in 2013 and became the first female controlling owner to guide a team to an NBA championship in 2020.
Jeanie’s lawyer, Adam Streisand, wrote to her five siblings asserting any vote to sell would be invalid because her consent as one of three co-trustees is required; the co-trustees are Jeanie, Joey and Janie Buss. Streisand’s letter said that any vote for a sale "would be and is void" and added: "Co-trustees are bound to vote to ensure that the minimum 15% ownership requirement is maintained in order to ensure that Jeanie Buss may remain controlling owner," according to ESPN. The letter warned that "Any attempt by the co-trustees to aid or abet the co-trustees as such, would constitute a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court." It concluded with a demand: "On behalf of Jeanie Buss, I demand that your clients make clear publicly that Jeanie Buss is the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and that your clients shall take no action on this supposed 'vote' to sell the 17.8% stake."
The Lakers were acquired by Jerry Buss in 1979 in a $67.5m deal that included the Los Angeles Kings and an arena now known as the Kia Forum. After Jerry Buss died in 2013, ownership passed to his six children before Walter completed his purchase from the family. Mark Walter also holds a stake in the LA Dodgers alongside Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly, the article noted.
The article records the Lakers’ on-court history in ownership terms: the franchise has 17 NBA titles, 11 of which were achieved under the Buss family’s ownership, one fewer than the Boston Celtics.
The Kushner element of the buyer group was noted alongside recent controversy: Kushner was involved in a dispute concerning Fifa president Gianni Infantino and an aborted plan to sell stakes in the governing body’s competitions, and Thrive Eternal, a venture capital firm founded by Kushner, "was expected to lead the proposed investor group for the Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal."
If the transaction receives approval from the NBA's board of governors next month, it would be the most expensive sports team sale ever reported and Walter would have realised a $2.5bn (£1.9bn) profit on his investment.