Photo Credit: Getty Images
The new owners of the Los Angeles Lakers are consolidating their control over the franchise and amplifying their stake in the team.
The Buss family announced it has agreed to sell its remaining 17.8% stake in the franchise on Monday, Aug. 17 to new majority owners, businessman Joshua Kushner and former Disney CEO Robert Iger. ESPN was the first to report the news.
“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 said Monday 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.”
But there could be a wrinkle in the family's plans to sell its shares.
In a letter through her lawyer at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, Jeanie Buss is opposing the sale of the family's minority stake, claiming it would be a breach of the family's trust.
The letter, which was sent to lawyers representing Jeanie's siblings, argues that Jeanie remains the controlling owner of the family's stake – citing a 2017 order from the Los Angeles Superior Court – and that any attempt to override that "would constitute a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court."
The opposition from Jeanie complicates the sale of the family's shares and could ignite a legal battle between Jeanie and her siblings.
