jeanie buss

Jeanie Buss is taking her siblings to court. Again.

Attorneys representing the Lakers’ controlling governor filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday to block her five siblings from trying to sell the family’s remaining 17.82% of the NBA franchise the Buss family has owned since 1979.

Jeanie contends that her siblings should abide by a 2017 court order that mandated the family’s co-trustees to “take all actions reasonably available to ensure that Jeanie is appointed and remains as the NBA controlling owner of the Lakers.” The 2017 legal battle installed Jeanie’s younger siblings, Janie and Joey, as her fellow co-trustees, two roles that were previously held by her older brothers Jim and Johnny, who were ousted after a failed attempt to wrestle control away from Jeanie.

The 97-page petition accuses Janie, Joey and the other siblings Jim, Johnny and Jesse of “devious behavior” for not including Jeanie in discussions to sell the family’s last stakes in the team earlier this month. While the other siblings elected to sell soon after Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner agreed to a record-breaking transaction with Mark Walter and released a statement attributed to the Buss family, Jeanie “never agreed to any sale, was never consulted and was never even informed,” the petition states.

“Jeanie thought she had put all of her siblings’ scheming and manipulations behind her in 2017,” the petition reads. “Sadly, that was not the case — and Jeanie must respectfully request relief from this Court a second time.”

Among five points on the petition, Jeanie hopes to declare her siblings’ votes to sell the team void, remove Janie and Joey as co-trustees for “breach of fiduciary duty” and hold both in contempt of court and hold Jim, Johnny and Jesse in contempt and liable for “aiding and abetting.”

Jeanie, the third-oldest child of former Lakers owner Jerry Buss, was hand-picked by the family patriarch to oversee his prized investment that grew from a $67.5-million purchase into a $12.5-billion world-renowned brand. Iger, the former Disney chief executive, and Kushner, founder of a venture capital firm, bought a majority stake of the Lakers from Walter earlier this month at a record valuation, and reports of five of the Buss siblings’ plans to sell their ownership stake in the team came days later.

To remain on the NBA board of governors, Jeanie would need to own at least 15% of the team. She was to stay in the leadership role for at least the next four seasons after the Buss family relinquished control of the team to Walter in 2025.

That unique aspect of the 2025 sale “demonstrated the co-trustees could fulfill their duties under the trust — and honor Dr. Buss’s intent — while also delivering extraordinary financial returns to the beneficiaries,” the petition states.

Jeanie contends that not only is her latest fight to maintain her governor role a way to “enforce of her parents’ intent,” but the petition says Jeanie also believes remaining the governor can “protect the strategic decision by the trustees less than a year ago to sell a portion of the team and retain an interest sufficient to maintain control and to benefit from the continuously skyrocketing value.”

Since Jerry Buss built the Lakers into the NBA’s most glamorous franchise during four decades of stewardship, the team will now have a third controlling owner in as many years. Walter, who previously owned a minority stake in the team, took majority control in 2025 when the team was valued at $10 billion. His reign was short-lived; he shockingly sold his shares of the team to Iger and Kushner for a 25% profit 14 months after Walter’s purchase offer was accepted by the Buss family trust.

The sale from Walter to Iger and Kushner is not expected to be affected by the Buss family’s legal proceedings, according to a source close to the matter but not authorized to speak publicly.

The petition adds that Lakers minority owners Patrick Soon-Shiong, who owns the Los Angeles Times and said he plans to hold onto his 4% stake in the Lakers, and real estate developer Ed Roski Jr. believe Jeanie is “the right person to continue as controlling owner and NBA governor of the Lakers to help preserve and continue to grow the value of the Lakers stock investments.”

The Lakers functioned as a family-run business for decades under the Buss family. Each child held different roles, but Jeanie is now the only one left at the organization. Jim and Johnny were ousted in 2017. Janie, Joey and Jesse were all fired soon after Walter’s sale was approved in November. Joey was the chief executive of the G League affiliate South Bay Lakers and Jesse was the Lakers’ director of scouting. Janie led the organization’s charity efforts. ESPN reported that Jim and Johnny had returned to roles with the team and were among those fired in November.

After Jeanie and her legal team announced their intention to contest the siblings’ attempt to sell, the five other siblings released a statement saying they were “united” in their decision and intended to “move forward thoughtfully, respectfully and through appropriate process.”

“The Los Angeles Lakers have never been just a basketball team,” the statement released Aug. 18 continued. “They have been one of the greatest privileges of our lives. Our focus has always been on what we believe is best for the Lakers, the fans who have supported this franchise for generations and the greater Los Angeles community.”

A court hearing to review the request is scheduled for Nov. 5, according to the petition. The Lakers will be two weeks into their season at the time.

For more than four decades, the Lakers were a family-run business. The sibling rivalries still remain.

Jeanie Buss is fighting back after her siblings reportedly voted to sell the family’s remaining stake in the Lakers on Monday. The team’s governor, Buss sent a letter through her attorney to her brothers’ attorneys stating any votes to sell the family’s remaining 17.8% stake in the team to new majority owners Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner are void because the sale cannot be completed without approval of the other trustees: Jeanie and her younger siblings, Janie and Joey.

ESPN reported Monday that the six Buss family siblings, who took over team ownership after their father, Jerry Buss, died in 2013, are selling their shares of the Lakers to Iger and Kushner following a family vote. Iger, the longtime Disney chief executive, and Kushner, a venture capitalist and entrepreneur, agreed last week to buy Mark Walter’s controlling stake of the Lakers for a record valuation of $12.5 billion.

The transactions still need to be approved by the NBA board of governors. Jeanie Buss, who was to remain the Lakers governor for at least five years after Walter’s purchase of the team was approved last October, no longer would be eligible to serve on the board if the Buss family sells its shares. Governors are required to own at least a 15% stake.

“The co-trustees are bound to vote the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. shares to ensure that the minimum 15% ownership requirement is maintained in order to ensure that Jeanie Buss may remain controlling owner,” the letter from Buss’ attorney reads, citing a 2017 court ruling outlining Jeanie Buss’ role. “Any attempt by the co-trustees to do otherwise and any attempt to aid or abet the co-trustees as such would constitute a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court.”

The trust was revised in 2017 after a series of legal battles between Jeanie and her older brothers, Johnny and Jim. It stipulated that co-trustees “would take all actions reasonably available to them, including voting the trust’s shares to ensure that [Jeanie Buss] is elected as the controlling owner of the Lakers on an annual basis during [her] lifetime.”

The statement to ESPN attributed to the Buss family regarding the sale read: “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. 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.” ESPN didn’t report a price for the shares.

The Buss family has owned the team since 1979, when Jerry Buss bought the franchise, the Forum and the Los Angeles Kings for $67.5 million. The family patriarch leveraged Hollywood glamour with entertainment spectacle to elevate the Lakers into an internationally recognized brand. The NBA’s biggest stars shone brightest in L.A.; Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant helped pile up 10 championships under Buss. The Laker Girls became a harbinger of sports dance teams to come. Celebrities flocked to the courtside seats. Books and TV shows told the team’s Hollywood story.

Each of Buss’ six children — Jeanie, Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse — held titles in the organization. Jeanie was her father’s hand-picked successor. She fought to maintain her position against Johnny and Jim, who tried to reorganize the board of directors to push Jeanie out in 2017. She eventually ousted them from team operations. Joey and Jessie, the two youngest, were fired by the new owners last November. Joey was the team’s alternate governor and vice president of research and development, and Jesse was the assistant general manager. Janie held an administrative role directing the team’s charitable services.

The booming sports business quickly caught up to the team that once held the attention of the city with the league’s biggest stars, iconic “Showtime” style and old Hollywood feel. The Lakers slogged through a six-year playoff drought from 2013-19. The team started falling behind in resources and revenue compared to other organizations that controlled their own arenas and could maximize alternative revenue streams. The Buss family voted to relinquish a majority ownership of the team last year, bringing in Walter, who also owns the Dodgers.

Walter then shockingly flipped the NBA’s crown jewel franchise for a profit of $2.5 billion last week. The investment mogul who is under federal investigation for unpaid loans agreed to sell his stake in the Lakers to Kushner and Iger. Kushner is a co-founder of Thrive Capital, which started a permanent holdings company, Thrive Eternal, this year to invest in sports and cultural brands. Iger is the longtime Disney CEO who already owns Southland soccer club Angel City FC and previously flirted with NFL ownership by trying to build a stadium in Carson before the project ultimately went to the Stan Kroenke-led group that built SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

Before including the Buss shares, the deal for the Lakers’ majority stake already was the largest sum paid for any professional sports franchise, surpassed only by Walter’s $10-billion purchase of the team. It still sits below Sportico’s estimate for the most valuable franchise, with the outlet listing the Dallas Cowboys’ valuation at $15.5 billion.

Minority stakeholders Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who also owns the Los Angeles Times Media Group; real estate billionaire Ed Roski; and Walter business partner Todd Boehly own about 14% of the Lakers, according to Sportico.

How Iger and Kushner will finance the Lakers deal is unclear.

When the duo agreed to buy Walter’s share last week, Kushner and Iger released a statement that in part praised the Buss family’s work with the Lakers.

“We have immense respect for the leadership and vision of Jerry and Jeanie Buss,” the statement read. “Our long-term commitment is to build on that foundation, compete at the highest level, and serve this extraordinary team, its fans, and the city of Los Angeles.”