Buss family agrees to sell Lakers shares to Iger, Kushner group

Less than one week after Mark Walter shockingly sold the Los Angeles Lakers to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, the Buss family is now relinquishing its own shares to the new majority owners. 

At least, most of the Buss family wish to do so. 

Earlier on Monday, ESPN reported the Buss family decided to sell the remaining 17.8% ownership stake in the iconic NBA franchise to Kushner and Iger. 

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Lakers owner and president Jeanie Buss speaks during a ceremony for the unveiling of a statue for former Los Angeles guard Kobe Bryant at Star Plaza outside of Crypto.com Arena. (Jason Parkhurst-USA Today Sports / IMAGN)

The family’s trust, which includes siblings Jeanie, Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse, “received majority votes to allow trustees to execute the sale.” The vote required four of six to agree to sell to “enact the tag-along provision of Mark Walter’s sale to Kushner and Iger, which valued the Lakers at $12.5 billion.”

The outlet added that, once the transaction has been completed, Jeanie Buss will no longer have a required ownership percentage to remain the governor of the Lakers. 

“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 Buss family told ESPN in a statement. “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.”

BOBG IGER, JOSH KUSHNER SHOCKINGLY PURCHASE LAKERS MONTHS AFTER MARK WALTER BECAME MAJORITY OWNER

“As a family” doesn’t seem to be the case now. Jeanie Buss’s lawyer wrote a letter to the lawyers of her siblings explaining why she believes they can’t sell their minority stake to the new Lakers majority owners, according to CNBC.

In the last paragraph of that letter, the attorney writes, “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.”

ESPN added later Monday night that Jeanie Buss “was the lone family member not in favor to sell as the five siblings voted 5-0 – including two of the three trustees – to sell the Buss stake.” 

Walter’s time as majority owner came to an end a year after purchasing the stake from the Buss family. 

In June 2025, the Buss family decided to sell the Lakers to Walter for a then-record $10 billion. There was, however, some in the Buss family who felt misled by Jeanie in what they characterized as a rushed sale, per ESPN. They felt pressured to vote for the sale to go through. 

Within the sale to Mark Walter, Jeanie Buss was allowed to remain the governor of the Lakers. (IMAGN / IMAGN)

In the end, all six siblings said “yes” to the sale, which closed in October 2025. The sale gave each sibling $500 million post-tax. 

Within the sale to Walter, Buss was allowed to remain the governor of the Lakers given the 17.8% ownership stake still intact. 

But Walter’s surprise sale of the Lakers comes amid a federal investigation into the Guggenheim Partners CEO. It was reported that the FBI recently seized Walter’s phone and laptop, as well as a high-ranking Guggenheim Investments executive’s this past year. 

Some are viewing the Lakers’ sale as a quick way to liquify assets for Walter with potential legal problems ahead. 

The Financial Times also reported Monday that Walter and his business partner, Todd Boehly, are looking to sell their stakes in the English Premier League’s Chelsea Football Club.  

As part of this new addition to the deal that includes the Buss family shares, Kushner and Iger will roughly control 83% of the Lakers. They were slated to have 65% of control with just Walter’s shares. 

Joshua Kushner attends the Met Gala Celebrating “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2023, in New York City. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images / Getty Images)

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Kushner, 41, is the founder and managing partner of venture capital firm Thrive Capital, as well as co-founder and vice-chairman of Oscar Health. He is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump. 

Iger, 75, is the former CEO of Disney, where he led the company to the acquisitions of Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox, to name a few.   

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