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When Mark Walter bought a controlling stake in the Lakers from the Buss family last year, there was a notable wrinkle: Jeanie Buss would stay on as team governor and oversee day-to-day operations.
At first, it wasn’t clear what that meant, nor was it disclosed how Walter would facilitate it. But a legal filing made Wednesday as part of a dispute between Jeanie Buss and the five other Buss siblings revealed details.
Under the Oct. 30, 2025, agreement, Walter agreed to take all actions “reasonably required or requested by Jeanie” to ensure she continued to serve as a director and controlling owner of the Lakers for five years. That was contingent upon her “or her affiliated entities” maintaining a stake of at least 15% in the Lakers, which is the NBA’s threshold for someone to be team governor.
After those five years, Buss would have the right to serve as the Lakers’ alternate governor as long as she “or her affiliated entities” hold at least 5% of the team. Alternate governors can vote on league matters when the primary governor is absent.
The terms, disclosed in the Buss siblings’ response to a petition filed by Jeanie in California state court, provide the clearest picture yet of an arrangement that was notably vague when Walter’s acquisition was announced last year.
The full side agreement has not been made public, and representatives for Buss, the Lakers, and Walter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Sources say the terms outlined in the Buss siblings’ filing, which are more precise than what was reported when Walter’s original Lakers acquisition was taking place, were the subject of negotiation. When ESPN first broke that news, it reported Buss would continue to run the team for “at least a number of years.” A few days later, a press release said Buss would remain governor and continue to oversee day-to-day operations “for the foreseeable future.”
By July, sources were mixed on exactly how long Buss would stay in power. The Athletic reported she would remain governor for “at least” five years, while a source told Front Office Sports it was “at most” five years.
This summer, roughly a year after he acquired the Lakers at a $10 billion valuation, Walter agreed to sell his controlling stake in the team to Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger at a $12.5 billion valuation. The sale comes as Walter’s sprawling business empire is under a federal investigation tied to faulty disclosures.
It’s unclear how, or whether, Jeanie Buss’s side agreement will carry over following Walter’s sale of the team.
The five Buss siblings besides Jeanie—Johnny, James, Janie, Joey, and Jesse Buss—want to sell their family’s remaining 17.8% stake, which is held in a family trust. They say they are set to receive $2.2 billion through the sale of their stake under a “go-along” provision in the “Lakers Shareholders Agreement.” The Buss siblings’ filing says Walter must give them notice of their right to go along with his sale before he sells any of his shares, which hasn’t happened yet. It also says they have the right to sell their shares at the same value Walter sells his.
Jeanie Buss opposes their plan. Her August petition, filed in California state court, said that a 2017 court order requires her family to “take all actions reasonably available” to keep her as governor, which includes not selling down their stake to below 15%.
In their Wednesday response, the Buss siblings said Jeanie Buss has no legal right to stop them from selling their shares. “Jeanie’s argument is at most a meaningless academic exercise,” they wrote.
The Buss family has owned the Lakers, in whole or in part, since 1979 when Jerry Buss bought the team and other assets, including the NHL’s Kings and The Forum, where both the Lakers and Kings used to play, for a reported $67.5 million. After he died in 2013, the franchise went into a trust controlled by the six Buss children. Before his death, he said the succession plan was for Jeanie Buss to become the Lakers governor and run the team.
The arrangement between Jeanie Buss and Walter was negotiated at a time when other sellers had tried, and failed, to retain meaningful control of NBA teams.
Mark Cuban thought he would oversee basketball operations for the Mavericks, but he had no say in the trade that sent Luka Dončić to the Lakers and has since admitted he regrets not putting the Mavericks on the open market before reaching a deal with Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont. And Wyc Grousbeck originally intended to stay on as Celtics team governor through the 2027–28 season, but by the time a $6.1 billion sale to a group led by Bill Chisholm was completed, that plan had been abandoned.
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