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For more than four decades, the Lakers were a family-run business. The sibling rivalries still remain.<\/p>\n
Jeanie Buss is fighting back after her siblings reportedly voted to sell the family\u2019s remaining stake in the Lakers on Monday. The team\u2019s governor, Buss sent a letter through her attorney to her brothers\u2019 attorneys stating any votes to sell the family\u2019s remaining 17.8% stake in the team to new majority owners Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner are void because the sale cannot be completed without approval of the other trustees: Jeanie and her younger siblings, Janie and Joey.<\/p>\n
ESPN reported Monday that the six Buss family siblings, who took over team ownership after their father, Jerry Buss, died in 2013, are selling their shares of the Lakers to Iger and Kushner following a family vote. Iger, the longtime Disney chief executive, and Kushner, a venture capitalist and entrepreneur, agreed last week to buy Mark Walter\u2019s controlling stake of the Lakers for a record valuation of $12.5 billion.<\/p>\n
The transactions still need to be approved by the NBA board of governors. Jeanie Buss, who was to remain the Lakers governor for at least five years after Walter\u2019s purchase of the team was approved last October, no longer would be eligible to serve on the board if the Buss family sells its shares. Governors are required to own at least a 15% stake.<\/p>\n
With the Department of Justice, the SEC and state insurance regulators probing Mark Walter\u2019s businesses, the Dodgers owner has a lot on the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe co-trustees are bound to vote the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. shares to ensure that the minimum 15% ownership requirement is maintained in order to ensure that Jeanie Buss may remain controlling owner,\u201d the letter from Buss\u2019 attorney reads, citing a 2017 court ruling outlining Jeanie Buss\u2019 role. \u201cAny 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trust was revised in 2017 after a series of legal battles between Jeanie and her older brothers, Johnny and Jim. It stipulated that co-trustees \u201cwould take all actions reasonably available to them, including voting the trust\u2019s shares to ensure that [Jeanie Buss] is elected as the controlling owner of the Lakers on an annual basis during [her] lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statement to ESPN attributed to the Buss family regarding the sale read: \u201cWe 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.\u201d ESPN didn\u2019t report a price for the shares.<\/p>\n
The Buss family has owned the team since 1979, when Jerry Buss bought the franchise, the Forum and the Los Angeles Kings for $67.5 million. The family patriarch leveraged Hollywood glamour with entertainment spectacle to elevate the Lakers into an internationally recognized brand. The NBA\u2019s biggest stars shone brightest in L.A.; Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O\u2019Neal and Kobe Bryant helped pile up 10 championships under Buss. The Laker Girls became a harbinger of sports dance teams to come. Celebrities flocked to the courtside seats. Books and TV shows told the team\u2019s Hollywood story.<\/p>\n
Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner have no history in L.A. They have no experience. They have no credibility. This isn\u2019t Disney. This isn\u2019t some hedge fund.<\/p>\n
Each of Buss\u2019 six children \u2014 Jeanie, Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse \u2014 held titles in the organization. Jeanie was her father\u2019s hand-picked successor. She fought to maintain her position against Johnny and Jim, who tried to reorganize the board of directors to push Jeanie out in 2017. She eventually ousted them from team operations. Joey and Jessie, the two youngest, were fired by the new owners last November. Joey was the team\u2019s alternate governor and vice president of research and development, and Jesse was the assistant general manager. Janie held an administrative role directing the team\u2019s charitable services.<\/p>\n
The booming sports business quickly caught up to the team that once held the attention of the city with the league\u2019s biggest stars, iconic \u201cShowtime\u201d style and old Hollywood feel. The Lakers slogged through a six-year playoff drought from 2013-19. The team started falling behind in resources and revenue compared to other organizations that controlled their own arenas and could maximize alternative revenue streams. The Buss family voted to relinquish a majority ownership of the team last year, bringing in Walter, who also owns the Dodgers.<\/p>\n
Walter then shockingly flipped the NBA\u2019s crown jewel franchise for a profit of $2.5 billion last week. The investment mogul who is under federal investigation for unpaid loans agreed to sell his stake in the Lakers to Kushner and Iger. Kushner is a co-founder of Thrive Capital, which started a permanent holdings company, Thrive Eternal, this year to invest in sports and cultural brands. Iger is the longtime Disney CEO who already owns Southland soccer club Angel City FC and previously flirted with NFL ownership by trying to build a stadium in Carson before the project ultimately went to the Stan Kroenke-led group that built SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.<\/p>\n