Lakers family stake sale to Iger, Kushner faces internal dispute
Jeanie Buss’s legal team denied she will sell her share of the Los Angeles Lakers to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, while other Buss siblings have announced plans to sell the remaining family trust shares.
A letter from Jeanie Buss’s attorney to her siblings’ lawyers said she does not intend to sell her Lakers stake to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, contradicting reports that the Buss family would exit its ownership on Monday.
The other Buss siblings – Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse – issued a statement through ESPN reporter Shams Charania, saying the family has decided to sell its remaining trust shares and that they respect Iger and Kushner as potential buyers.
The proposed transaction would add the family’s 17.8 percent holding to the 65 percent already purchased by Iger and Kushner, potentially giving the duo about 83 percent control of the franchise. The earlier purchase, valued at $12.5 billion, set a record for a sports-team sale.
If the Buss family’s shares are transferred, Jeanie Buss could fall below the NBA’s 15-percent ownership threshold required for a team governor, a condition noted in the prior sale agreement with former owner Mark Walter.
Iger told the California Post that the group shifted focus from a Las Vegas expansion bid to the Lakers after learning Walter was willing to sell, and the deal was finalized within three days.