Jeanie Buss contests reported Lakers stake sale to Iger and Kushner
Jeanie Buss’s lawyer argues that a reported sale of the family’s Lakers stake cannot proceed without the required approvals.
By Maya Okafor · Markets Writer
· 3 min read
Jeanie Buss Lakers stake sale questions are now at the center of a family dispute that could determine whether the Lakers governor retains an ownership role in the team. Buss, through her attorney Adam Streisand, is contesting reports that the Buss family will sell its remaining 17.8% interest in the franchise to Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner.
The immediate issue for fans and investors watching the sports-business deal is governance, not the team’s day-to-day basketball operations. ESPN reported that a completed sale of the family trust’s shares would leave Buss below the ownership threshold required to remain the Lakers’ governor. The reported transaction also still needs approval from the NBA Board of Governors, NBC Los Angeles reported.
Can Jeanie Buss stop the reported Lakers stake sale?
That remains unresolved. In a letter obtained by CNBC, Streisand wrote to law firms representing Buss’s siblings that she had not agreed to a sale and that any vote representing the family as selling would be void.
Streisand argues that Buss remains the controlling shareholder under a 2017 court order. He also argues that the JAB Trust’s stake cannot be sold without approval from its current co-trustees: Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss.
According to CNBC’s account of the letter, Streisand says the trust and the court order require the co-trustees to preserve at least a 15% ownership position so Buss can remain controlling owner. The letter says an effort to act differently could breach the trust and fiduciary duties. Those are Streisand’s legal assertions, rather than a new court ruling included in the reporting.
What is the conflicting report about the Buss family shares?
ESPN reported that the Buss family had decided to sell its remaining 17.8% stake to Iger and Kushner. It also published a statement attributed to the family saying it had chosen to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Iger group as part of the broader transaction.
Under NBA guidelines cited by ESPN, a governor or controlling owner must hold at least a 15% interest in a franchise. That is why the reported sale has implications beyond the family’s investment: it could end Buss’s eligibility to serve as governor, a role she has held since 2013.
The dispute follows Iger and Kushner’s agreement last week to buy Mark Walter’s majority Lakers stake. CNBC reported that deal valued the franchise at $12.5 billion. A sale of the Buss family shares would raise Iger and Kushner’s combined ownership to about 83%, ESPN reported.
The Buss family has faced public disagreements over control before. The Los Angeles Times reported that a 2017 conflict over the family trust ended with Buss’s brothers signing a document reelecting her as controlling owner, though her attorney questioned whether that settled the broader disagreement. The current dispute turns on a different question: whether the reported sale can move ahead under the trust’s governance rules and the NBA’s approval process.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.
