Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss is mounting a legal challenge against her siblings' decision to sell the family's final 17.8 per cent ownership stake in the franchise, setting up a bitter internal dispute over the team's future.
Josh Kushner, brother of US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared, and former Disney chief executive Bob Iger struck a deal earlier this month to acquire the controlling interest in the Lakers at a $12.5bn (£9.3bn) valuation—the highest price ever paid for a professional sports team.
The pair are purchasing roughly 65 per cent of the team from Mark Walter, who also holds a stake in baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers alongside Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly. Their combined ownership would reach approximately 83 per cent if they complete negotiations with the Buss family.
Jeanie Buss has served as the Lakers' governor since 2013, following the death of her father Jerry Buss, who bought the team in 1979. She orchestrated the family's decision to sell a controlling stake to Walter last year at a $10bn valuation, a transaction that guaranteed her position would continue through 2030.
However, completing the sale to the Iger-Kushner group would terminate her role, as the governor position requires ownership of at least 15 per cent of the team.
On Monday, the Buss family released a statement announcing their intention to proceed with the sale.
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. We love the Lakers, Lakers 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.
Jeanie Buss's attorney, Adam Streisand, responded by sending a letter to her five siblings' representatives asserting that any decision to sell the family trust's ownership stake
would be and is void, according to ESPN.
The letter contended that
Co-trustees are bound to vote to ensure that the minimum 15 per cent ownership requirement is maintained in order to ensure that Jeanie Buss may remain controlling owner.It further warned that
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.
The dispute marks the latest chapter in a long-running family conflict that has intensified since Jerry Buss's death. Jeanie dismissed her brother Jim from his role as the Lakers' head of basketball operations in 2017, triggering a lawsuit from Jim and Johnny in their attempt to remove her as controlling owner. Brothers Joey and Jesse were subsequently fired from their front-office positions last November.
The proposed sale of the trust's 17.82 per cent stake is estimated at approximately $2.2 billion, according to Complex Sports. This comes after the siblings each received roughly $500 million after taxes from the earlier sale to Mark Walter, which closed in late October 2025, while Jeanie was positioned to remain governor through 2030.
On October 7, five of Jeanie Buss's siblings filed a formal court opposition to her effort to block the sale, calling her petition "legally and factually baseless". The siblings' filing argues that a 2017 court order does not prevent them from selling the trust's stake without Jeanie's consent.
The Lakers have won 17 NBA titles, 11 of which came during the Buss family's ownership era. The franchise's most recent championship victory occurred in 2020, when the team defeated the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.
What happens next
The ownership transaction still requires approval from the NBA's board of governors, which is expected to vote in November. A Los Angeles Superior Court hearing is scheduled for December 8, 2026, where the family's legal dispute will be addressed.
The sale agreement comes after Kushner's involvement in a controversial proposal by FIFA president Gianni Infantino to sell stakes in the governing body's competitions to private investors. Thrive Eternal, the American venture capital firm founded by Kushner, was set to lead the proposed investor group for the FIFA Forward Enterprise initiative until the plans were abandoned following intense criticism and boycott threats from continental confederations, including UEFA.
