Follow us on Google Discover As Jeanie Buss refuses to give up her equity with the Los Angeles Lakers, there have been questions about how it impacts the team’s sale to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger.
Iger and Kushner closed a $12 billion agreement to purchase the Lakers from Mark Walter, who bought the team from the Buss family last year.
But in the last few days, Jeanie Buss has pushed back on the family trust’s decision to sell their 17.8% equity in the LA Lakers, which has some fans concerned about how it affects the sale.
Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty ImagesJeanie Buss LA Lakers holdout will have no impact on $12 billion sale
According to Front Office Sports, the family feud between Jeanie and the rest of the Buss siblings will not have any impact on Mark Walter’s $12.5 billion sale of the LA Lakers.
One source FOS spoke to who has legal experience within the sports world suggested that Jeanie is currently fighting to remain governor of the team.
“Having seen other agreements, Mark Walter was not going to buy the Lakers for $10 billion and have Jeanie Buss be the manager of the entity that owns the team.
“I know that’s true, because otherwise Kushner and Iger couldn’t have bought the Lakers from Walter. What she’s really fighting about is being the governor for a team she no longer owns. That’s a little weird.”
Earlier this week, the Buss family confirmed to Shams Charania that they would be selling the 17.8% minority stake they held in the Los Angeles Lakers as part of the deal between Walter, Bob Iger, and Josh Kushner.
Immediately after this, Jeanie Buss’ attorney put out a statement that her siblings had fed this information to ESPN and Charania, and that she has control over the equity to decide what happens with it.
Buss has been associated with the Lakers since her father, Dr. Jerry Buss, bought the team in 1979. She has held numerous roles with the team.
When Walter purchased the LA Lakers last year for $10 billion, he and Jeanie Buss came to an agreement that allowed her to stay on the team as the governor.
With the sale to Iger and Kushner, Jeanie wants to ensure that she holds on to the 17.8% equity that is divided between her and her siblings, so that she can continue to stay on as the governor of the team.
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