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Despite the Lakers being sold twice in the last year, the franchise cannot escape Buss family drama.
Not long after ESPN reported Monday that the Buss family will sell its remaining 17.8% stake in the Lakers to incoming majority owners Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger, CNBC published a letter from Jeanie Buss’s lawyer arguing her siblings don’t have the right to compel the family to exit.
Jeanie Buss has remained team governor since her family sold a majority stake to Mark Walter last year at a then-record $10 billion valuation. But according to ESPN, the Buss Family Trust decided “as a family” to sell its remaining shares, a move that would mean Jeanie Buss no longer holds the requisite-size stake to stay on as team governor (under NBA rules, the governor must own at least 15% of a franchise).
ESPN reported “at least” five of the six Buss siblings voted to exercise what are known as “tag-along” rights, which are meant to protect minority investors by allowing them to sell their interest in a franchise when control changes hands. At least four votes in favor were required, ESPN said.
“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,” ESPN quoted the “Buss family” as saying.
But apparently that statement didn’t come from the entire Buss family. According to Jeanie Buss’s letter, first published by CNBC, the ESPN report from Shams Charania represents “the latest instance of a years-long pattern whereby Joey and Jesse Buss leak false, defamatory and pernicious ‘information’ to Mr. Charania for the malicious purpose of doing harm to the Los Angeles Lakers so long as Dr. Buss’s chosen successor, Jeanie Buss, carries out her father’s wishes.”
Before his 2013 death, Jerry Buss said the succession plan was for Jeanie Buss to become the Lakers governor and run the team.
According to Buss’s lawyer, Adam Streisand of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, a sale of the Buss family’s 17.8% Lakers stake cannot be made without approval by the current co-trustees, which are Jeanie, Janie, and Joey Buss. Additionally, his letter says there is a court order requiring the family to maintain at least a 15% ownership stake so Jeanie Buss can remain governor.
“On behalf of Jeanie Buss, I demand that your clients make clear publicly that Jeanie Buss is the Controlling Owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and that your clients shall take no action on this supposed ‘vote’ to sell the 17.8% stake,” the letter says.
Representatives for Joey and Jesse Buss and the NBA declined to comment. Representatives for Jeanie Buss and the Lakers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Last November, roughly one month after Walter’s acquisition of the Lakers was completed, the team fired Joey and Jesse Buss from their front office roles. “Joey and I were pushed to the sidelines for well over two years, so while the news of our removal is deeply disappointing, it is not entirely unexpected,” Jesse Buss wrote in an emailed statement to Front Office Sports at the time. “Still, it’s incredibly hard to see our time with the Lakers end this way. We grew up in this organization – learning the game, the business, and the responsibility of stewardship directly from our father.”
Joey and Jesse Buss have since launched their own investment firm, Buss Sports Capital, which has been linked to a potential NBA Europe franchise.
Walter shockingly sold the Lakers last week to the group led by Kushner and Iger at a $12.5 billion valuation, a deal that comes as his business empire is under investigation.
