After nearly 50 years, the Buss family will no longer be part of the Lakers’ ownership group. In a statement to ESPN, the family announced that it has chosen to sell its remaining 17.8% ownership stake in the Lakers to the new majority ownership group led by Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, according to multiple reports.
Iger and Kushner purchased the controlling stake in the Lakers last week for a record-breaking $12.5 billion.
“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, 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,” the statement said.
The Buss family trust, which controlled the stake, consists of siblings Jeanie, Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse. The sale required four of the six votes to allow trustees to go forward with the sale, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
The Buss family took control of the Lakers in 1979, leading to the rise of the franchise and the Showtime era. The Buss’s majority ownership ended last year, when the family sold the controlling stake to Mark Walter in a $10 billion deal, but the family retained a 17.8% minority stake.
Following Iger and Kushner’s acquisition of the team, Jeanie Buss — who became the team president following the death of family patriarch Jerry Buss in 2013 — originally stayed on as the team’s governor despite not having the controlling share. However, with the Buss family’s share being looped into the rest of the sale, Jeanie will no longer have the 15% ownership stake required to stay team governor. It’s unclear who will take over as governor in her place.
This story will be updated.
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