What will Jeanie Buss’ role be after Lakers sale?

One of the most iconic sports franchises in the entire world, the Los Angeles Lakers, has been sold for the first time since 1979. Jeanie Buss and the Buss family have sold their majority ownership in the Lakers to Mark Walter for $10 billion. The sale represents a record-breaking deal and has massive ramifications moving forward.

Despite her family’s sale, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports that Jeanie Buss will remain as franchise governor and continue as the primary decision-maker regarding the franchise.

The sale represents the best of both worlds for Buss because she saw how her dad ran the organization. After running it on her own for a few years, she can still be the primary decision-maker while offloading much of the pressure of ownership.

The sale represents the largest sale of a U.S. professional sports team in history. It also almost doubles the next highest sale, the Lakers’ main rival, the Boston Celtics, which sold for $6.1 billion earlier this year.

The Lakers’ new owner, Mark Walter, is a titan in the sports industry. He is the CEO and chairman of diversified holding company TWG Global, where he is the principal owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and has stakes in the Los Angeles Sparks, the Billie Jean Cup, the Cadillac Formula 1 team, and the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

In 1979, Jerry Buss purchased the Los Angeles Lakers for $67.9 million from Jack Kent Cooke in a deal that included the Los Angeles Kings hockey team and the Los Angeles Forum arena. It’s safe to say that the purchase paid off as the Lakers have won 11 championships since 1980, easily the most in the NBA during that span.

Jerry Buss ran the organization until he passed away in 2013, when it transferred to his children. Jeanie Buss took over controlling ownership in the organization in 2017 after a dispute with her brothers that eventually led to her brothers conceding and giving her lifetime operational control of the team.

Walter has been a stakeholder with the Lakers since 2021, when he also received a right of first refusal on the majority share of the team. He became the controlling owner of the Dodgers in 2012 and has presided over the Dodgers’ rise to juggernaut status in the MLB.

This deal seems like the best of both worlds for Jeanie Buss and the Buss family overall. Buss is a basketball lifer and has been a huge key in helping the Lakers stay relevant, so keeping her involved is massive for the franchise’s future and in the immediate future with LeBron James’ retirement looming and the Luka Doncic era starting.