It was reported on Monday that the Buss family had agreed to sell their remaining minority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers (17.8%) to new owners Bob Iger and Josh Kushner as a part of Mark Walter’s recent majority sale.
But it appears that is not yet set in stone as Jeanie Buss’ attorney released a letter stating she is the controlling owner and cannot be outvoted by her siblings Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse:
After news of the sale leaked, it was reported that Jeanie was the only one of the six Buss children that voted against the sale. While the rest of them may have thought that meant it could be finalized, Jeanie has it in writing that she has the final say and has no plans of selling.
This is the latest quibble in the Buss family saga that dates back a decade to when she pursued that court order in 2017 and fired her older brother Jim from his role of president of basketball operations.
What comes next remains to be seen, but it seems that this story is just getting started as Jeanie attempts to keep her and the rest of the Buss family’s minority stake in the Lakers.
When the Buss family originally agreed to sell to Walter last year, Jeanie was the one who followed through with it despite Joey and Jesse voting against it. Now, they are the ones that want out, and understandably so after being fired from their long-time front office rules. But again it looks like Jeanie is the one with the final say.
Why doesn’t Jeanie Buss want to sell?
According to Alex Sherman of CNBC, Buss wants to keep her minority stake show she can remain in her role as governor of the Lakers:
But Jeanie Buss doesn’t want to sell the family’s stake in the team at this time, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about confidential matters. She wants to hold onto the team stake for value reasons as well as to maintain her role as governor, the person said.
In one of Iger’s first comments after agreeing to purchase the Lakers, he expressed that Jeanie would remain in her role as governor as had been planned under Walter, but he also concluded that things could possibly change.
If you love our reporting, choose LakersNation.com as a preferred source on Google.
