Jeanie Buss disputes family vote to sell Lakers stake

Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss is contesting a vote by her siblings to sell the family’s remaining 17.8% ownership stake to investors Josh Kushner and Bob Iger. A letter from Buss’s attorney, Adam Streisand, obtained by ESPN, references a 2017 court decision that any sale must be approved by the co-trustees, which include Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss, to preserve the minimum 15% ownership needed for her to remain controlling owner.

The Buss family voted to sell the shares at the same $12.5 billion valuation used in Mark Walter’s recent deal, invoking a tag-along provision from the June 2025 transaction that gave the family rights to participate in any sale at that price. Under the agreement with Walter, Buss was to retain controlling ownership through 2030. Bob Iger told the California Post he would honor that arrangement, adding that “if something changes, then it changes.”

"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," the family said in a statement.

Streisand’s letter demands that the siblings publicly affirm Buss’s status as controlling owner and refrain from acting on the vote, warning that any attempt to bypass the trustees would breach fiduciary duties and could be held in contempt of court. CNBC was the first outlet to obtain the attorney’s correspondence.

Jeanie Buss was the only sibling who did not vote in favor of the sale, and sources say she abstained from the earlier vote held before Walter’s agreement with Kushner and Iger. The family’s internal discussions, prompted by an emergency meeting called by Lakers vice president of finance Joe McCormack, reportedly led to heightened concerns among the siblings.

The Buss family has owned the Lakers since Jerry Buss bought the team in 1979, overseeing 11 NBA championships and the franchise’s record of 2,289 wins since the 1979-80 season.