Following a blockbuster $12.5 billion acquisition of the Los Angeles Lakers last week, the Buss family has agreed to sell its remaining 17.8% ownership stake to new majority owners Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, completely ending the family’s nearly 50-year control of the NBA franchise.
The End of the Showtime Era and the Final Family Exit
After nearly five decades at the helm, the Buss family is officially cutting all ties with the Los Angeles Lakers’ ownership group. The family announced in a statement to ESPN that it will sell its remaining 17.8% ownership stake to the newly installed majority ownership group led by former Disney CEO Bob Iger and Thrive Capital founder Joshua Kushner.
The transaction follows Iger and Kushner’s surprise acquisition of the controlling stake in the franchise for a record-breaking $12.5 billion. The Buss family trust, which oversaw the remaining minority shares, required four of six sibling votes to clear the sale. Ultimately, Jeanie, Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey, and Jesse all agreed to the move, with the five other siblings sending Jeanie signatures to trigger a tag-along clause.
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, via Yahoo
The family first took control of the organization in 1979 under patriarch Jerry Buss, leading to the rise of the franchise and the Showtime era. The family’s majority ownership ended last year when they sold a controlling stake to Mark Walter in a $10 billion deal, retaining only the 17.8% minority slice that is now being absorbed into the Iger-Kushner purchase.
Jeanie Buss Loses Governor Role Amid Front Office Overhaul
When Iger and Kushner originally secured majority control, plans were in place to keep team president Jeanie Buss on as the franchise’s governor through 2030, honoring a previous promise made by Mark Walter. Following the death of Jerry Buss in 2013, Jeanie had guided the franchise through both championships and turbulent internal family dynamics.
However, bundling the remaining family shares into the overarching sale strips Jeanie of the 15% ownership threshold required to maintain her governor position. It remains unconfirmed who will step in to take over those operational duties.
The decision to exit comes against a backdrop of deep-seated family friction. Jeanie famously ousted her brother Jim as vice president of basketball operations in 2017, while the youngest brothers, Joey and Jesse, were dismissed from front office roles last November during a restructuring period following Walter’s acquisition.
Why Billionaires Are Chasing Sports Franchises for Tax Shields
The $12.5 billion valuation highlights a broader market trend where professional sports teams have transformed into alternative assets for ultra-wealthy buyers. Just last month, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Khosla agreed to purchase the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks for $9.6 billion, following the Boston Celtics sale in 2025 for $6.1 billion—a price tag eclipsed by Mark Walter’s $10 billion purchase of the Lakers later that same year.
Beyond the cultural prestige of owning an iconic franchise boasting 17 championships and legends like Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and LeBron James, deals of this magnitude offer powerful financial incentives.
Ram Ahluwalia, founder of Lumida Wealth Management, pointed out on social media that the acquisition serves as a formidable financial instrument.
My guess is he is preparing to offset a boatload of carried interest income,
Ahluwalia noted, suggesting Kushner faces massive capital gains from private holdings in companies like SpaceX, OpenAI, and Stripe. By structuring a sports franchise purchase correctly, owners can establish a non-passive deduction.
Depreciation, Broadcast Rights, and the Economics of Elite Ownership
Owning a major sports franchise allows investors to leverage specific accounting tools. Owners can amortize key assets like media rights while treating player rosters and stadium infrastructure as depreciable intangible assets. These maneuvers generate paper losses that offset an owner’s taxable income generated elsewhere.
At the same time, regional broadcast deals and long-term media agreements provide steady, reliable revenue streams. This financial stability insulates franchise owners from nightly attendance fluctuations.
It is being part of a very elite and exclusive club of owners that control those franchises,
said David Silverman, a partner in Cooley’s M&A group who worked on the Celtics sale, highlighting that unique business opportunities and consistent consumer spending on live entertainment continue to drive franchise values upward.
