Jeanie Buss contests siblings’ sale of 17.8% Lakers stake to Iger and Kushner

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Jeanie Buss contests siblings’ sale of 17.8% Lakers stake to Iger and Kushner

Coverage spread: 5 sources — 1 left · 2 center · 2 unrated

Lean ratings via AllSides / Media Bias-Fact-Check. How this works.

Where they agree

  • Jeanie Buss is contesting her siblings’ plan to sell the family trust’s 17.8% Lakers stake to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner.
  • Her lawyer, Adam Streisand, sent a letter arguing any sale vote is void without her approval under a 2017 court order preserving her status as controlling owner.
  • The other five siblings — Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse — issued a statement saying they remain united in favor of selling.
  • The dispute comes after Iger and Kushner agreed to buy Mark Walter’s majority stake for $12.5 billion, a deal not yet approved by the NBA.

Where they differ

  • CNBC and Forbes emphasize the legal mechanics of the 2017 court order and the 15% ownership threshold in detail, quoting the letter at length.
  • The Guardian and CBS Sports foreground the family history — 47 years of Buss ownership and prior infighting over the Walter sale — as context for the current feud.
  • Yahoo Sports’ coverage leans into the drama angle, with one piece explicitly framing it as a real-life “Succession” story.
  • Forbes’ analysis piece explores the financial motive, noting each sibling stands to earn more than their father’s original 1979 purchase price, a detail other outlets omit.

Jeanie Buss is fighting her five siblings’ decision to sell the Buss family trust’s remaining 17.8% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to new majority owners Bob Iger and Josh Kushner. Her lawyer says any vote to sell would be void under a 2017 court order that requires the trust’s co-trustees to keep Jeanie’s ownership above the 15% threshold needed for her to remain the team’s controlling governor. The dispute broke open Monday, August 17, hours after the family announced its intent to sell.

What exactly did the Buss family announce, and how did Jeanie respond?

On Monday afternoon, the Buss family put out a statement through ESPN saying they had “decided as a family to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Bob Iger group as part of the ongoing transaction,” adding it was “time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can.” The statement did not make clear that Jeanie was opposed. Later that day, her attorney Adam Streisand sent a letter to lawyers for her siblings — Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse — obtained by CNBC, ESPN and other outlets, arguing that no sale of the trust’s 17.8% stake “can be effectuated without approval by the current co-trustees, i.e., Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss.” Streisand cited a 2017 court order tied to the JAB Trust and said the co-trustees are obligated to vote in a way that preserves Jeanie’s 15%-plus ownership so she can keep her status as the Lakers’ Controlling Owner under NBA rules. He warned that going forward with the sale “would constitute a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court,” and demanded the siblings publicly affirm Jeanie’s status as controlling owner. On Tuesday, the other five siblings responded with their own statement saying they “remain united” in the decision to sell and intend to proceed “thoughtfully, respectfully and through the appropriate process.”

How does this fit into the larger Lakers ownership sale?

The dispute follows two blockbuster sales in just over a year. Roughly fourteen months earlier, Jeanie Buss led the sale of the majority stake in the Lakers to Mark Walter, CEO of TWG Global, for $10 billion — a record for a U.S. sports franchise at the time. That deal let Jeanie stay on as governor through at least 2030, but her siblings Joey and Jesse were subsequently terminated from their team roles. Last week, Walter agreed to sell his stake to Bob Iger, the former Disney CEO, and Josh Kushner, founder of Thrive Capital, in a deal valuing the Lakers at $12.5 billion — a new record. That sale has not yet been approved by the NBA. If the Buss family’s remaining 17.8% trust stake is added to Iger and Kushner’s purchase, their combined ownership would rise to roughly 83%, according to ESPN’s reporting cited by CNBC.

Why does the 15% ownership threshold matter so much?

NBA rules require a team’s controlling owner or governor to hold at least a 15% stake in the franchise. Jeanie Buss has served as the Lakers’ governor since taking over from her father, Jerry Buss, after his death in 2013. If the family trust sells its full 17.8% stake, Jeanie’s personal ownership would likely fall below that threshold, jeopardizing her position as governor — even though Iger reportedly told the California Post he intended to honor the arrangement keeping her in that role for five years, while also cautioning “if things change, things change.” A source familiar with the matter told CNBC that Jeanie does not want to sell now, both for financial reasons and to preserve her governance role.

What’s the history behind the family rift?

The Buss family has held ownership in the Lakers since Jerry Buss bought the team, the Forum, the NHL’s Kings and other real estate for a combined $67.5 million in 1979. After his death, Jeanie became governor while her brother Jim ran basketball operations; she fired him from that post in 2017 after the team’s worst stretch in franchise history and also fended off an attempted removal effort by Jim and Johnny. More recently, Joey and Jesse Buss — who had opposed selling to Walter — were let go from their team roles (overseeing the G League affiliate and scouting, respectively) after that sale closed. According to ESPN reporting cited by CBS Sports, a Lakers finance executive had called an emergency family meeting the Monday before the Iger-Kushner news broke, aimed at dissolving the family trust and locking shares into a new four-year trust; no sale to Iger and Kushner was discussed at that meeting.

What happens next?

The outcome hinges on whether Jeanie, as one of three co-trustees alongside Janie and Joey, can legally block a sale that a majority of the six siblings support — the trust reportedly requires four of six votes to approve major actions. Streisand’s letter sets up what could become formal litigation, and outlets note this could turn into a prolonged, public legal fight within the family. The NBA has not yet approved the Iger-Kushner purchase of Walter’s stake, and it’s unclear how the dispute over the family trust’s shares will affect that timeline or Jeanie’s future as governor.

Sources

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