The battle of the Busses over the future of their stake in the Los Angeles Lakers is officially becoming a legal matter. Again.
Jeanie Buss has petitioned a Los Angeles Superior Court to block her five siblings from selling the family's remaining 17.8% stake in the Lakers, which she claims to be a scheme to remove her from her role as team governor, according to The Athletic's Sam Amick and Melody Gutierrez.
A court hearing is reportedly scheduled for Nov. 5.
The five other siblings — Johnny, Jim, Janie, Joey and Jesse — announced their intention to sell days after majority owner Mark Walter, who bought the lion's share of the team from the Busses last year, was reported to be selling his stake in the team to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger at a record valuation of $12.5 billion.
The five siblings reportedly voted to invoke a "tag-along" clause to sell their stake to Kushner and Iger, prompting a response from Jeanie's lawyer declaring any vote to sell as "void."
Jeanie's 97-page petition reportedly contains five causes of action:
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instruct her co-trustees, Joey and Janie, to observe the 2017 court order that requires her co-trustees "to take all actions reasonably available to ensure Jeanie's appointment as Controlling Owner"
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declare her siblings' resolution to sell as invalid
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not only remove Joey and Janie as co-trustees for "a breach of trust," but also hold them liable "for loss and damage" to the family trust
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hold the co-trustees in contempt of court
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hold Jim, Johnny and Jesse responsible for "aiding and abetting" Janie’s and Joey's alleged violation of the 2017 order
In the petition, Jeanie's legal team reportedly argues that selling doesn't make financial sense given the team's "continuously skyrocketing value," which she says will continue under Kushner and Iger.
Under NBA rules, Jeanie also needs a stake of at least 15% in the Lakers to remain the team's governor, a role she was expected to continue occupying for the next four years under Kushner and Iger, a remnant from her deal with Walter. Selling even one sixth of the Buss' remaining stake would take her below that mark.
This could somehow get even uglier for the Buss family
This is only the latest chapter in a breathtakingly cinematic feud among the siblings since the death of patriarch Jerry Buss in 2013.
The first real battle came in 2017, when Jeanie fired Jim from his role as the Lakers' head of basketball operations. That prompted Johnny to challenge her control of the team, which was outlined as part of the trust. The end result was a decisive victory for Jeanie, as a court ruled her co-trustees are obligated to ensure she remains Lakers controlling owner.
It's unclear if that order still applies if the Buss family no longer has a controlling stake at all, as Jeanie is instead fighting for control of the team's remaining minority stake.
Jeanie also fired Joey and Jesse from their front office roles last year.
Jerry made such infighting nearly inevitable with the "last man standing" provision in his trust, which transfers funds to the remaining siblings when one of the six dies rather than to their own families. Instead of keeping the team together, it has directly incentivized the siblings to sell before their own deaths to pass on their wealth to their children, with Jeanie arguing she has sole control of the keys to any sale.
That tension is now spilling into public view, and it's hard to imagine the other five siblings backing down in court anytime soon.
