Lakers governer Buss contesting siblings’ plans to sell ownership stake

Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss is contesting her siblings’ plans to sell the family’s remaining 17.8 per cent ownership stake in the team.

Josh Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared, and former Disney chief executive Bob Iger agreed a deal earlier this month to buy the controlling interest in the Lakers at a valuation of $12.5bn (£9.3bn) – a record for a professional sports team.

Kushner and Iger are reportedly buying about 65 per cent of the team from Mark Walter, who also owns a stake in baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers along with Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly. They would own about 83 per cent if they also reach a deal with the Buss family.

Jeanie Buss has been the Lakers’ governor since 2013 and the death of her father Jerry Buss, who had purchased the team in 1979.

She led the family’s move to sell a controlling stake of the team to Walter last year at a valuation of $10bn, in a deal that ensured she remained in position until 2030.

The decision to sell would end Jeanie’s tenure, because the job requires at least 15 per cent ownership of the team.

The Buss family released a statement on Monday, saying: “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, Lakers 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.”

But Jeannie Buss’ attorney, Adam Streisand, wrote to representatives for her five siblings to state that any decision to sell the family trust’s ownership stake “would be and is void”, according to ESPN.

“Co-trustees are bound to vote to ensure that the minimum 15 per cent ownership requirement is maintained in order to ensure that Jeanie Buss may remain controlling owner,” the letter is reported to have said.

“Any attempt by the co-trustees to do otherwise, and any attempt to aid or abet the co-trustees as such, would constitute a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court.”

The Lakers have 17 NBA titles, 11 of which have come under the Buss family’s ownership, but the six siblings have been in frequent conflict since their father Jerry’s death, with Jeanie firing Jim from his job as the Lakers’ head of basketball operations in 2017, followed a week later by a lawsuit against her brothers amid an attempt by Jim and Johnny to oust her as the Lakers’ controlling owner.

Joey and Jesse were fired from their front-office jobs with the team last November.

The sale agreement with Kushner and Iger also still has to be approved by the NBA’s board of governors, which could take months, and comes after Kushner’s name was attached to a controversial plan proposed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino to sell off stakes in the governing body’s competitions to private investors.

Thrive Eternal, an American venture capital firm founded by Kushner, was due to lead the proposed investor group for the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal until plans were scrapped in the face of fierce criticism and threats of boycott from some of its continental confederations, including UEFA.