Five siblings have filed legal opposition to their sister Jeanie Buss in an ongoing Los Angeles Lakers family dispute, escalating a bitter battle over the NBA franchise’s ownership and control.
In August, Jeanie Buss contested the validity of her five siblings’ vote to sell the family’s shares in the Los Angeles Lakers to a group led by Bob Iger and Josh Kushner.
In her 97-page petition, Jeanie Buss contended that the Buss family trust should “retain an interest sufficient to preserve control and to profit from the continuously soaring value.”
The siblings asserted that in order to sell the trust’s shares, only two of the three co-trustees and four of the six siblings had to vote yes to sell the franchise. Adam Streisand, Buss’ attorney, described the vote as “devious behavior” and claimed that it was “orchestrated as part of a calculated effort to create a public fait accompli before Jeanie could respond.”
The Buss siblings fight back against sister Jeanie
On Wednesday, the five siblings asked the court to dismiss Jeanie Buss’ petition.
“Jimmy, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse Buss, the five of six siblings who voted to sell the Trust’s shares in the Lakers, today filed their formal opposition, demonstrating that Jeanie Buss’s petition is legally and factually baseless,” the siblings said in a statement.
“While discussions among the siblings continue, their focus remains on facilitating the proposed transaction and the Trust’s participation in it, while ensuring that all beneficiaries, including Jeanie, are treated equally. Today’s filing is a necessary step to protect those interests and ensure the transaction proceeds on schedule.”
Much of the battle appears to center on the fact that in order for Jeanie Buss to remain governor and be the controlling owner of the Lakers, her siblings must hold at least 15% of the team. Jeanie Buss will no longer be able to manage the Lakers if the Buss family sells its 17.8% share.
The siblings contend that Jeanie Buss’s petition is motivated by “her own personal desire to preserve” her leadership positions with the Lakers. They also claim that by failing to consider the $2.2 billion the sale could bring in for the family, she is breaching her fiduciary duty to the other Buss siblings, according to Front Office Sports.
“Jeanie’s efforts by the Petition to avoid this inescapable conclusion for her own self-interested reasons are contrary to the Trust Agreement’s express terms, constitute a breach of her fiduciary duties as a trustee, and must be rejected,” the siblings’ response claims.
The sale of the Lakers is still expected to happen
The case’s hearing is currently set for December 8. The disagreement is not expected to affect the proposed sale to Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger.
Joey and Jesse Buss, two of Jeanie Buss’s brothers, have already joined the new San Diego Padres ownership group led by Kwanza Jones and Jose E. Feliciano. Following the sale of their family’s primary ownership in the Lakers, the siblings founded the investment firm Buss Sports Capital.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers’ current majority owner, Mark Walter, is facing insurance fraud allegations in a class-action lawsuit amid an ongoing federal investigation.