On Monday, Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, who agreed to purchase the majority share of the Los Angeles Lakers that Mark Walter bought last October, became set to also purchase the share of the team that the Buss family still owns. The family voted to sell its stake in the franchise to Kushner and Iger, but that transaction has hit a snag because Jeanie Buss, the governor of the Lakers, is contesting that vote, according to ESPN.
"Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss is contesting her siblings' vote to sell the family's remaining 17.8% share of the Lakers, according to a letter from her lawyer obtained by ESPN," wrote Ramona Shelburne. "ESPN's Shams Charania reported earlier Monday that the Buss family voted to sell their remaining shares to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger at the same $12.5 billion valuation that Mark Walter agreed to last week. They believe they have the right to sell based on a tag-along provision that had been included in the previous sale to Walter in June 2025. Sources told ESPN that provision gave the family rights to tag along on any sale and valuation Walter secured for his shares."
Per the original transaction involving Walter, Kushner and Iger, Buss was set to remain the Lakers' governor through 2030. But if the Buss family is to sell its stake, she would no longer hold that role. Per ESPN, Buss' lawyer explained the situation.
"In response, Jeanie Buss' lawyer Adam Streisand wrote to the five siblings who voted to sell that a court had ruled in 2017 that no sale could be 'effectuated without approval by the co-trustees, i.e. Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss.' "Streisand also wrote that the '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. 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.' "Streisand demanded that the five siblings 'make clear publicly that Jeanie Buss is the Controlling Owner of the Los Angeles Lakers' and 'take no action on this supposed "vote" to sell the 17.8% stake.'"
Walter had first purchased his majority share from the Buss family, who had owned the Lakers since 1979. It was originally the late Dr. Jerry Buss who made that purchase from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979, and he had set up a trust to eventually pass down ownership of the franchise to his offspring. When he died in 2013, the younger Buss, his daughter, assumed the role of controlling owner according to that trust. This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Buss family votes to sell Lakers — except Jeanie Buss