Updated
Updated · ESPN · Aug 20
Soon-Shiong Keeps 4% Lakers Stake as Buss Family Fights Over $12.5 Billion Sale
Updated
Updated · ESPN · Aug 20

Soon-Shiong Keeps 4% Lakers Stake as Buss Family Fights Over $12.5 Billion Sale

1 articles · Updated · ESPN · Aug 20

Summary

  • Patrick Soon-Shiong will keep his 4% Los Angeles Lakers stake, his family attorney said, backing incoming owners Bob Iger and Josh Kushner once their purchase from Mark Walter closes.
  • That decision further narrows Jeanie Buss' options as she contests five siblings' plan to sell the family's remaining 17.8% stake at the same $12.5 billion valuation paid in Walter's earlier deal.
  • A 2017 court ruling cited by Jeanie Buss' lawyer says any sale of the Buss family shares requires approval from co-trustees Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss, setting up a legal fight over the transaction.
  • If the siblings sell and Jeanie is left with just under 3%, she would need about 12% more to meet the NBA's 15% threshold to remain acting governor; with Soon-Shiong out, Ed Roski Jr.'s roughly 3% is the only other minority block mentioned.

Insights

As billionaires circle the $12.5 billion empire, will an obscure 2017 trust ruling become the ultimate dealbreaker for the Lakers?
How will overlapping ownership earthquakes and a divided Buss family reshape the future of one of sports' most iconic franchises?