The Buss family’s conflict over ownership of the Lakers has become a legal battle.
Jeanie Buss, the franchise’s governor, filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court this week, looking to block her siblings’ attempted sale of their minority ownership stake of the franchise.
Jeanie Buss and her siblings are embroiled in off-court drama involving the Lakers. Getty Images
Five of the Buss siblings who are part of the Buss family trust — Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse Buss — voted to sell the rest of the family’s 17.8% ownership stake of the Lakers to soon-to-be majority owners Josh Kushner and Bob Iger.
Johnny Buss and most of his siblings want to sell their share of the Lakers. Getty Images
Kushner and Iger agreed to purchase the majority shares of the Lakers from Mark Walter for a valuation of $12.5 billion, less than a year after Walter bought the Lakers from the Buss family at a valuation of $10 billion.
Jeanie Buss called her siblings’ behavior “devious” in the petition, obtained by the California Post on Wednesday, which stated Jeanie was “blinded” by the attempted sale and that the family’s statement provided to ESPN last week was “knowingly false: Jeanie never agreed to any sale, was never consulted, and was never even informed.”
A court hearing is scheduled for Nov. 5, according to the 97-page petition.
“Jeanie thought she had put all of her siblings’ scheming and manipulations behind her in 2017,” the petition stated. “Sadly, that was not the case — and Jeanie must respectfully request relief from this Court a second time.”
The petition includes five orders:
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Instructing trustees to comply with 2017 court order;
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Declaring purported trustee resolution void;
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Surcharging and removing co-trustees Joey H. Buss and Janie M. Buss for breach of fiduciary duty;
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Holding Joey H. Buss and Janie M. Buss in contempt of court;
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Holding James, Johnny and Jesse Buss in contempt and liable for aiding and abetting.
Jim Buss and most of his siblings want to sell their share of the Lakers. MediaNews Group via Getty Images
Jeanie Buss, the third-oldest child of the late Dr. Jerry Buss, first made it clear she opposed her siblings’ vote to sell the family’s share of the Lakers, according to a letter from her lawyer, Adam Streisand, which was obtained by The Post, arguing her siblings can’t legally execute a sale without her approval and that any vote of the Buss family selling would be “void.”
To remain the Lakers governor, Jeanie or the Buss family would need to maintain control of at least 15% of the franchise, per NBA rules.
She has been team’s governor since 2013 after Jerry’s death.
When Walter purchased the majority ownership of the Lakers from the Buss family, the league announced that Buss would remain the team’s governor for at least five years (through 2030).
Iger told The Post last week he and Kushner intended to honor the agreement made between Walter and Buss.
Streisand’s original letter to lawyers for the other siblings demanded that they retract the announcement of the proposed sale, insisting that rules of the family trust and a 2017 court ruling make clear that Jeanie Buss will remain a controlling owner of the team for life.
Jeanie Buss argued her attempting to stop her siblings’ sale of the Lakers, which would prevent her from continuing as the franchise’s governor, is not only a way to “enforce her parents’ intent” but also “protect the strategic decision by the trustees less than a year ago to sell a portion of the team and retain an interest sufficient to maintain control and to benefit from the continuously skyrocketing value.”
The petition also states that other minority owners support Jeanie Buss staying as governor.
“[Patrick] Soon-Shiong and [Ed] Roski [Jr.] have made the determination, as has Jeanie, that the value of Lakers stock will continue to increase over the value of the stock in the current proposed offer for the purchase by a group led by Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner of Lakers stock owned by Mark Walter,” the petition states. “And, for that reason, they have no intent to sell their Lakers stock at this time.
“They also believe that Jeanie is the right person to continue as the Controlling Owner and NBA Governor of the Lakers to help preserve and continue to grow the value of their Lakers stock investments.”
The sale from Walter to Kushner and Iger isn’t expected to be impacted by the Buss family’s litigation.
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