The Buss family is selling its remaining 17.8% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger. This move ends nearly five decades of family ownership and will see Jeanie Buss step down as team governor, as she will no longer meet the NBA's ownership requirements.
Credit FIBA
The Buss family's ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers is coming to an end after nearly five decades, with the latest transaction also set to remove Jeanie Buss from her position as team governor.
According to ESPN's Shams Charania, the Buss family has decided to sell its remaining 17.8% ownership stake in the Lakers to new majority owners Josh Kushner and Bob Iger.
The Buss family trust, consisting of siblings Jeanie, Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse Buss, received enough votes to allow the trustees to execute the sale.
Four of the six siblings were required to approve the decision in order to enact the tag-along provision connected to Mark Walter's sale of the Lakers to Kushner and Iger, which valued the franchise at a record $12.5 billion.
The Buss family issued a statement on the sale:
"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. 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 will no longer be Lakers governor
The decision also means Jeanie Buss will eventually give up her position as Lakers governor.
According to Charania, once the sale of the family's remaining 17.8% stake is completed, Buss will no longer own the percentage required under NBA rules to remain in that position.
NBA guidelines require a controlling owner or governor to hold at least a 15% stake in a franchise.
That represents a change from the previous expectation surrounding Buss' future. When Walter acquired majority ownership of the Lakers, an agreement called for her to remain governor for at least five years, and Iger recently said he and Kushner intended to honor that arrangement.
However, the Buss family's decision to sell its remaining ownership now makes that impossible under the league's ownership requirements.
Jeanie Buss Luka Doncic Lakers
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Jeanie Buss Luka Doncic Lakers
Historic Buss era nearing its end
Jerry Buss purchased the Lakers in 1979 and turned the franchise into one of the most recognizable and successful brands in professional sports.
Following his death in 2013, ownership was held through a family trust involving his six children, with Jeanie eventually becoming the Lakers' controlling owner and governor.
The family retained a minority stake after Walter purchased controlling interest last year, but that remaining 17.8% will now also be sold to Kushner and Iger.
Once the transaction is finalized, the Buss family will no longer own part of the Lakers and Jeanie Buss will no longer serve as governor, formally ending one of the most significant ownership eras in NBA history.
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