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Jeanie Buss is reportedly challenging her siblings’ attempt to sell the family’s remaining stake in the Los Angeles Lakers.
Hours after the Buss family released a statement revealing their intention to sell their 17.8% ownership of the franchise to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, CNBC and ESPN reported that Jeanie Buss’s lawyer sought to halt her siblings’ sale on legal grounds.
At issue is Jeanie Buss’s status as the Lakers’ controlling owner. NBA guidelines require controlling owners or governors to own at least 15% of a franchise.
Fourteen months ago, Jeanie Buss spearheaded the sale of the franchise to Mark Walter for $10bn, a then-record for a US sports franchise. The Buss family trust – which is comprised of Jerry Buss’s six children – voted to sell to Walter, although there was some infighting due to the perception that the process was rushed. Part of the agreement with Walter provided that Jeanie Buss would remain governor through 2030, but her siblings were terminated from their positions with the organization following the sale.
Last week, Walter sold the Lakers to Iger and Kushner for the record-breaking price of $12.5bn, a sale that has not yet been approved by the NBA.
The Buss family – who have been either a primary or minority owner of the Lakers since 1979 – made their move Monday afternoon, though it wasn’t clear at the time that Jeanie Buss was against the deal.
“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,” the family said in a statement to ESPN. “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.”
Lawyer Adam Streisand replied on Jeanie Buss’s behalf later Monday, with a letter obtained by CNBC and ESPN addressed to her siblings, Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse. Streisand argued that a court ruled in 2017 that any sale of the Lakers required approval from the co-trustees, Jeanie among them.
“Pursuant to the JAB Trust and the attached Court Order,” Streisand added, “the co-trustees are bound to vote the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. shares to ensure that the minimum 15% ownership requirement is maintained in order to ensure that Jeanie Buss may remain Controlling Owner. Any attempt by the co-trustees to do otherwise, and any attempt to aid or abet the co-trustees as such, would constitute a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court.”
Jeanie Buss took over for her late father as governor of the Lakers in 2013.
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Walter, the CEO and chair of diversified holding company TWG Global, owns MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks. He is under federal investigation for alleged tax fraud involving four of his other business interests.
Should the sale go through, Iger and Kushner will own approximately 83% of the Lakers.
The NBA board of governors, which must approve this sale, does not meet until 15 September in New York.
