The Buss family has decided to sell its remaining 17.8% ownership stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to new majority owners Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, according to ESPN sources.
The Buss family trust, made up of siblings Jeanie, Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse, received the majority votes needed for trustees to execute the sale. Four of six votes were required to activate the tag-along provision connected to Mark Walter’s sale to Kushner and Iger, which valued the Lakers at $12.5 billion.
Once completed, Jeanie Buss will no longer hold the ownership percentage required to remain the Lakers’ governor. NBA guidelines require controlling owners and governors to own at least 15% of a franchise.
In a statement to ESPN, the Buss family said: “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.”
Venture capitalist Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger are leading a group purchasing the Lakers for $12.5 billion, less than a year after Mark Walter acquired controlling interest from the Buss family for $10 billion.
Kushner and Iger had been pursuing an NBA expansion franchise in Las Vegas before turning their attention toward one of basketball’s crown jewels. Their group reportedly approached Walter with an unsolicited “offer he couldn’t refuse.”
The math is staggering. Walter’s $10 billion acquisition would become a $12.5 billion sale just 14 months later, representing a $2.5 billion increase in value. At that price, the Lakers transaction would become the largest sale of a professional sports franchise ever.
Kushner brings major investment muscle as the founder of Thrive Capital and already holds a minority stake in the Miami Heat. Iger arrives with decades of entertainment experience from Disney along with his ownership position in Angel City FC.
Walter, also the majority owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and CEO of Guggenheim Partners, is currently facing separate federal scrutiny from the SEC and U.S. Attorney’s Office involving unrelated insurance and financial ventures.
Nothing becomes official until the NBA Board of Governors approves the transaction.
For Lakers fans wondering what another ownership shakeup means on the court, Luka Dončić has already publicly reaffirmed his commitment to chasing a championship in Los Angeles while expressing enthusiasm about meeting the incoming ownership group.
For $12.5 billion, the Lakers are entering another era, and doing it at a valuation professional sports has never seen before.