Jeanie contesting family's sale of stake in Lakers
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- Jeanie Buss is contesting her five siblings' vote to sell the family's remaining 17.8% stake in the Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger at the same $12.5 billion valuation Mark Walter agreed to in June 2025, with the siblings citing a tag-along provision from that earlier sale.
- Adam Streisand, Jeanie's lawyer, argued that a 2017 court ruling barred any sale without approval from the co-trustees — Jeanie, Janie, and Joey Buss — and warned that any sale stripping Jeanie of the minimum 15% ownership needed to remain controlling owner would constitute 'breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court.'
- Jeanie Buss was the lone sibling who did not vote to sell and did not respond to the family vote, while two additional siblings who had not voted to sell several months ago joined the five-vote majority this time after Walter's sale was announced.
- Bob Iger told the California Post he intended to honor Jeanie's agreement with Walter to remain controlling owner through 2030, but added, 'If something changes, then it changes,' after meeting with her late last week.
- Lakers VP of finance Joe McCormack called an emergency meeting of the Buss siblings last Monday night to discuss dissolving the family trust and locking down all family shares for four years under a new trust — a meeting that sources said 'spooked' the five siblings and accelerated their push to sell.
- Mark Walter's sale to Kushner and Iger came amid a federal investigation into Walter for alleged tax fraud by companies tied to the billionaire, marking the second Lakers sale in roughly a year.
Why it matters: If the five siblings' sale proceeds, Jeanie Buss loses the 15% ownership threshold she needs to remain Lakers governor, ending a controlling-ownership arrangement she first secured when Walter bought the team — and the 2017 court ruling Streisand cited could void the transaction entirely, setting up a legal fight over a $12.5 billion franchise.
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