Buss trying to block her siblings' sale of family stake in Lakers
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- Jeanie Buss is moving to block her five siblings' vote to sell the family's remaining 17.8% stake in the Lakers, with her lawyer Adam Streisand calling the vote "void" and demanding a public retraction.
- Josh Kushner (brother of Trump's son-in-law Jared) and former Disney CEO Bob Iger agreed a $12.5bn deal last week to acquire the controlling interest from current owner Mark Walter.
- Mark Walter purchased his share from the Buss family last year for about $10bn in a deal that guaranteed Jeanie would remain Lakers governor through 2030.
- Streisand's letter argues Jeanie's approval as one of three co-trustees is legally required for any sale, warning siblings would face "breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and contempt of court" if they proceed.
- If approved by the NBA's board of governors next month, the deal would become the most expensive sports team sale ever reported — netting Walter a $2.5bn profit in roughly one year.
- The Buss family has held a primary or minority stake in the Lakers since Jerry Buss bought the franchise for $67.5m in 1979; under their ownership the team won 11 of its 17 NBA titles, one shy of the Boston Celtics' record.
- Kushner's venture firm Thrive Eternal was the expected lead investor in FIFA's recently scrapped competition-stake proposal before that plan collapsed amid controversy over president Gianni Infantino.
Why it matters: Jeanie's claim that her vote as co-trustee is legally required puts the $12.5bn transaction in legal limbo just weeks before the NBA's board of governors vote — meaning the would-be record sports-team sale, and Mark Walter's $2.5bn paper profit, both now hinge on one sibling's veto.
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