Jeanie Buss Reportedly Prepared to Take Desperate Step to Remain Lakers Governor

Fourteen months after the Buss family sold controlling interest in the Lakers at a then-record valuation, the franchise has been sold again. And the woman who has run it since 2013 is fighting to stay in the chair.

Mark Walter’s pending sale to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner values the team at $12.5 billion. Now Jeanie Buss is reportedly prepared to take a more desperate step, as she aims to find a way to keep at least 15 percent of the team so she can remain governor even if her siblings cash out.

“Could there be a way for the rest of the siblings to sell and Jeanie to remain as governor? That would require her finding a way to still own at least 15 percent of the shares, but it is possible," according to Sam Amick and Dan Woike of The Athletic. "Per a league source, Jeanie would be open to exploring that scenario.”

NBA rules require a team governor to hold at least 15 percent ownership. If the Buss Family Trust sells its remaining 17.8 percent stake, Jeanie Buss would fall below that threshold and lose the title she was promised through at least 2030 in last year’s deal with Walter.

The report came in the middle of an open family war. Five of Jerry Buss’ six children have voted to sell the trust’s leftover shares to the Iger-Kushner group.

Jeanie’s attorney, Adam Streisand, called that vote void. He argued that it would be a breach of trust and that the co-trustees are bound to preserve the 15 percent needed for her to stay controlling owner. The siblings answered with a joint statement saying they are united and intend to exit.

How Jeanie Buss Could Keep the Governor’s Seat Without the Family Stake

If her brothers and sisters sell their stakes, she would need to assemble enough equity on her own. This can be done by retaining a slice of the trust’s shares, buying additional interest, or structuring a holdback to stay at or above 15 percent.

A league source told The Athletic that she is willing to explore that option. The same report noted that Walter’s original agreement to keep her as governor for five years is now viewed as part of the Iger-Kushner transaction, and Iger indicated that he would honor that arrangement.

Whether the numbers and the family law allow it is another question. The dispute among the siblings makes a clean split harder, not easier. For Jeanie Buss, though, the alternative is the end of a 47-year family era and the loss of the role her father designated her to hold.

Keeping 15 percent would be an unusual, last-ditch workaround. It is also the only reported route that lets her siblings sell and still leaves her as Lakers governor.