In a legal submission presented this week, Jeanie Buss alleged that her brothers and sisters orchestrated a secretive press campaign against her, requesting a magistrate to halt her family members’ efforts to liquidate their equity in the Los Angeles Lakers, according to ESPN.
Based on the documents submitted on Wednesday, Jeanie Buss asserted that her relatives—namely Joey and Jesse Buss—harbor resentment over their late father selecting her to maintain controlling authority over the franchise, and she is opposing their desire to offload the family’s remaining ownership stake in the organization.
A definitive resolution to this court dispute might be reached at an upcoming session set for Dec. 8 in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Ex-Disney chief executive Bob Iger alongside Josh Kushner are leading an investor consortium aiming to acquire the Lakers from Mark Walter based on a $12.5 billion enterprise value.
Jeanie Buss challenges family’s plan to divest Lakers holding: Key details of the intense legal battle
Sam Quinn
“The friction following the passing of Dr. (Jerry) Buss (in 2013) was unfortunately bound to happen, and undeniably escalated because Dr. Buss selected his daughter ahead of four sons as his heir,” legal counsel representing Jeanie Buss stated in the court paperwork submitted this week. “The respondents’ fixation on undermining Jeanie and their refusal to concede her role in the future of the Lakers stems directly from this classic succession conflict.”
Jeanie Buss risks losing her position as team governor should the family proceed with selling its 17.8% equity share, an amount marginally exceeding the NBA’s 15% threshold required to maintain governing oversight. Iger earlier mentioned in a conversation with The California Post that the intention was to keep Buss in her executive post, though noting that “if circumstances shift, so will the outcome.”
This recent legal motion marks the next chapter in a persistent rift among family members concerning the third-most valuable team in the NBA. Previously this year, ESPN indicated that Jeanie Buss argued a judicial decree from 2017 prohibits any ballot to transfer the family’s surviving shares unless she approves.
This is far from the initial instance where the Buss heirs have clashed regarding governance of the club. Back when Jeanie dismissed Jim Buss from his role managing basketball operations in 2017, he teamed up with Johnny Buss in an effort to oust Jeanie from her position on the Lakers’ board of directors.
The opposing factions eventually reached a resolution allowing Jeanie Buss to preserve operational authority over the franchise.
Currently, Jeanie Buss is petitioning the judiciary to strip two of her siblings of their co-trustee roles due to alleged fiduciary breaches, issue a contempt citation against them, and “hold Jim, Johnny, and Jesse responsible for assisting in the breach of the 2017 court ruling while seeking coverage for her attorney fees,” according to ESPN.
Should the Buss family completely divest their equity in the franchise, every heir stands to collect a supplementary $371 million via tag-along rights. ESPN disclosed this week that compromise negotiations are underway.
“Jeanie was forced to request judicial action to uphold the explicit requirements of the trust alongside this court’s 2017 directive,” reads Wednesday’s motion. “The respondents react by portraying themselves as targets, whereas the entire scenario is actually a deception of their own making.
“The covert, behind-closed-doors ‘ballots’ and ‘decisions’ leaked to ESPN, instead of being communicated to their fellow trustee and sister, combined with their later refusal to engage in dialogue, were designed to pressure Jeanie, feign victimhood, and once more tarnish her reputation in news outlets by distributing their questionable defense ahead of time.”
