When Lakers majority owner Jerry Buss died in 2013, he left his 66 percent stake to six of his children, with daughter Jeanie Buss acting as the team's governor. Jerry hoped his family would hold on to the franchise, and toward the end of his life, he took financial and contractual measures that made it easier for them to do so. Naturally, after his death these six Buss children got caught up in over a decade of infighting that saw them split into three rough camps. Eldest siblings Johnny and Jim wanted to sell and cash out; in the middle, Jeanie wanted to keep running the team, and Janie followed her lead; Joey and Jesse, over 20 years younger than the rest, wanted to hang on and eventually run the team themselves, based on the tontine-like structure of the trust. Somehow all this infighting culminated in Jeanie, who had been resistant to previous suggestions of a sale, initiating the sudden 2025 sale of a majority stake to Mark Walter.
That left the Busses with a 17.8 percent stake and Jeanie acting as governor until at least 2030, although that arrangement already appears to be obsolete. After Walter—who is under federal investigation—in turn sold the Lakers to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner last week, the Buss siblings saw an opportunity to sell the rest of their stake in the team, according to Monday's report from ESPN's Shams Charania.
"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," the Buss family said in a statement. Charania helpfully clarified that Jeanie would be unable to act as governor once she owned 0 percent of the franchise, which I can confirm fails to meet the 15 percent minimum threshold.
However, that wasn't the end of it. Hours later, attorneys acting on behalf of Jeanie Buss claimed that the sale is "void," according to a letter obtained by CNBC that opens as follows, and then moves on to Buss family trust esoterica:
Gentlepersons:
As you know, this afternoon, Shams Charania of ESPN falsely reported that the six Buss siblings voted to sell the 17.8% ownership stake in the Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, and that my client, Jeanie Buss, is "out" as controlling owner. This is just the latest instance of a years-long pattern whereby Joey and Jesse Buss leak false, defamatory and pernicious "information" to Mr. Charania for the malicious purpose of doing harm to the Los Angeles Lakers so long as Dr. Buss's chosen successor, Jeanie Buss, carries out her father's wishes.
Another ESPN report from Ramona Shelburne later on Monday acknowledged that Jeanie Buss was disputing the sale. Shelburne also reported that the Buss siblings had conducted a vote to sell their shares several months ago, with only three of six siblings voting yes. After Walter's sale, another vote was conducted and two more siblings joined in, with Jeanie abstaining. To summarize: Jeanie, the initial holdout against any sale, then pushed for a rushed sale to Walter last year, and is now fighting this week's rushed sale of the family's remaining stake to Iger and Kushner. Somehow the Lakers are dealing with two different ownership dramas at the same time. Walter, who is apparently in a real hurry to get liquid, is reportedly looking to offload his stake in Chelsea Football Club as well.
Johnny, the oldest Buss child, "hoped the siblings could be united on some distant day, free from the ownership friction that had caused so much familial strife," according to a January deep dive by ESPN's Baxter Holmes. The dream looks as remote as ever.
