Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 26
Buss Sports Capital Buys 5% of Padres as Ex-Lakers Heirs Reenter Sports Ownership
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 26

Buss Sports Capital Buys 5% of Padres as Ex-Lakers Heirs Reenter Sports Ownership

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 26

Summary

  • About 5% of the San Diego Padres is being acquired by Buss Sports Capital, the investment group founded by brothers Joey and Jesse Buss, according to sources familiar with the unannounced deal.
  • The brothers will join the Padres' ownership advisory board, giving them a role in strategic guidance after Kwanza Jones and José Feliciano bought control of the club on Aug. 17 in a $3.9 billion deal.
  • The move follows the Buss family's exit from the Lakers: Mark Walter bought control last year, and Joey and Jesse last week voted with three siblings to sell the family's remaining stake in a separate transaction valuing the NBA team at $12.5 billion.
  • Joey and Jesse, both fired from Lakers basketball operations in November 2025, are pitching their experience in roster building, player development and long-term planning as transferable to baseball.
  • For the San Diego-raised brothers, the Padres stake extends a broader push into new sports assets that also includes interest in NBA Europe ownership.

Insights

Could the Buss brothers' surprising pivot to baseball be the secret launchpad for a massive global sports empire?
Will the basketball tactics that got the Buss brothers ousted from the Lakers actually work in a baseball front office?