Lakers New Ownership Takes Another Turn With Bob Iger While Jeanie Buss Saga Continues

Earlier this summer, it was reported that Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger will be co-purchasing the Lakers' majority ownership stake worth $12.5 billion from Mark Walter. However, a new report mentions that Kushner is actually the majority buyer of the stake, and Iger doesn't have the same status.

Charles Gasparino of the New York Post revealed that Iger will instead be part of another group that's set to purchase multiple minority ownership stakes.

“Bob will not be the control person,” one person close to Kushner told Gasparino. “It is expected that Bob will be a minority owner, an alternate governor, and lead the management of the team day-to-day, but not the governor of the team.”

Gasparino also reported that Iger will still have a major executive role with the Lakers, overseeing its operations, but won't be the governor.

Meanwhile, Jeanie Buss, who is technically still the Lakers' governor, is currently having an ongoing dispute with her siblings. Previous reports mentioned that most of the Buss siblings wanted to sell their remaining 17.8% stake. However, Jeanie is going against their wishes and is trying to prevent a sale from happening.

As of this writing, the dispute among the siblings hasn't come to a conclusion.

Jeanie Buss Seeking to Assume Full Control of the Family Trust Amid Lakers Dispute

Since 1979, the Buss family has been running the show for the Los Angeles Lakers. Dr. Jerry Buss purchased the franchise during the team's 'showtime' era.

However, in 2025, the Buss family surprisingly sold the majority ownership stake to Mark Walter, who, in less than a year, turned a $2.5 billion profit and sold his stake to Iger and Kushner.

Before Walter sold his stake, he promised Jeanie Buss, who was the team's acting governor even before selling their share of the team, that she would keep full control and power of the team for at least five more years after the sale despite no longer being the majority owner.

Now that Walter has sold his stake, Jeanie's siblings, Johnny, Jimmy, Janie, Joey, and Jesse, have gone against her to sell the family's remaining 17.8% stake at the same $12.5 billion valuation as Walter.

According to sources, the court hearing is set to take place on Nov. 5. Aside from going against her siblings, apparently, Jeanie intends to remove Janie and Joey as co-trustees of their family trust, giving her full control of the trust.