Five Buss Siblings Voted To Sell the Lakers Stake and Their Sister Says the Vote Is Void

Caption: Dennis Haskins, Jeanie Buss and David McLane at a WOW event in Los Angeles in 2016. Credit: David McLane, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

The Vote

Five of the six Buss siblings voted to sell the family’s remaining 17.8 percent stake in the Los Angeles Lakers, using a tag-along clause. The buyers are Bob Iger and Josh Kushner. The vote was reported on Monday, August 18.

The sixth sibling is Jeanie Buss, the team’s governor. She opposes it.

Why the 17.8 Percent Matters

The NBA requires a team governor to hold at least 15 percent of the franchise, according to CBS Sports.

The family stake being sold is 17.8 percent. If it goes, the ownership position that qualifies Jeanie Buss to run the Los Angeles Lakers may go with it.

That is what makes this something other than a dispute about a windfall. Whether the vote, if it stands, would actually remove her from the role depends on the terms of the requirement and on what the trust holds - neither of which has been established in the reporting.

Her Lawyer’s Argument

The position taken on her behalf is that the siblings cannot do this at all.

“No sale of the JAB Trust’s 17.8% ownership interest in the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. can be effectuated without approval by the current co-trustees, i.e., Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss,” the letter states.

It goes further, contending that any vote to sell “would be and is void,” and that attempting the sale would constitute “a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court.”

Those are not soft words. Contempt of court is an assertion that the siblings are defying an existing judicial order, not merely disagreeing about a trust document.

There is a complication in the letter’s own arithmetic. It names three co-trustees - Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss. Two of those three, Janie and Joey, are among the five siblings reported to have voted in favor of selling.

That is what the dispute actually turns on. If the trust requires unanimous co-trustee approval, Jeanie holds a veto and the vote is contestable. If it requires a majority, two of the three co-trustees have already been approved. Which standard applies is not in the reporting, and neither side’s public position settles it.

The Context of the Larger Sale

This is the tail end of a much bigger transaction. The Lakers’ majority stake was sold in a deal valuing the franchise at 12.5 billion dollars, with Mark Walter as the previous majority stakeholder.

The 17.8 percent at issue is what the family held after that. It is the last piece, and it is the piece that carries the governorship.

Where It Stands

The sale is disputed and Jeanie Buss is contesting it. Nothing here is settled.

What is unusual, even by the standards of family fights over sports franchises, is the specific shape of it: the woman who runs the most recognizable team in American basketball may lose that role because five of her siblings voted to sell a stake she says they cannot sell without her.

References: Jeanie Buss disputes her family’s sale of Lakers stake: What to know about dramatic off-court fight | Buss Family Drama Won’t Stop Lakers Sale to Iger and Kushner