Power Struggle for Lakers Ownership Emerging Among Buss Family

[PKABOOICU]

Magic would be a minority owner for the team. I don't think he has the wealth it takes to get majority ownership.

I think he would have to sell all the crap he's invested in (dodgers, theaters, whatever else), and then find a minority partner to make a heavy investment so he could become majority owner

[danfantastk32]

Jeanie will NEVER sell. How you feel about that is up to you. But that would be a dagger in her fathers grave (in her mind).

Like for reals....if someone somehow legally pry's the lakers from Jeanie's hands...I think you'll seriously mess her up upstairs. She will never sell this team. I think people aughta look for other options. Sounds like she's the main "owner" in the Trust. From what I read, Jim's got no leg to stand on whatsoever.

I think it would do the Laker franchise good to have it be sold.....but then I wonder how long before the fans (myself included) would hate the cold, icy, corporate hands that ran things. Love blinds from time to time....but she LOVES this team. That comes with some bad things....but I think it comes with alot of good. It's a rough patch right now, but she stood by her fathers wishes, and gave Goober his shot. 4 toilet flushes later.....she took it back. There will be a patch of chaos...but I think she and Magic deserve a couple years at least to try and turn this around.

[AcecardZ]

The team is worth $3 to $4 Billion. I don't see how Magic could ever own a controlling interest in the team.

[TKainZero]

I could see the buss family selling partially and giving up magority ownership

[DS17]

I could see the buss family selling partially and giving up magority ownership

we can only hope.

[DS17]

No one will want to play for him simple as that. If he fires magic not many people will want to work for him.

These past couple of years, he has dug himself into a hole, his legal battle with Jeanie is just putting gas into the fire... the man will never learn will he?

Lets hope and WISH that he will never be able to take control of the Lakers.

[larry14r]

No one will want to play for him simple as that. If he fires magic not many people will want to work for him.

These past couple of years, he has dug himself into a hole, his legal battle with Jeanie is just putting gas into the fire... the man will never learn will he?

Lets hope and WISH that he will never be able to take control of the Lakers.

Well in a way Jeanie has it coming like I say revenge is beat served cold.

[RingsDontLie]

The trust protects Jeannie and allows her to stay in control. Jim's lawyers has no leg to stand on. The whole Laker fan base is against Jim. Jerry was smart to secure his legacy by leaving Jeannie in charge. There was obviously big reason why he left Jeannie in charge over his sons. I like Jeannie and I hope she remains in charge. You can tell she really wants what is best for the Lakers organization. I really think she has made the right moves as of late. Firing Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak took guts. You gotta respect what she's doing.

[larry14r]

The trust protects Jeannie and allows her to stay in control. Jim's lawyers has no leg to stand on. The whole Laker fan base is against Jim. Jerry was smart to secure his legacy by leaving Jeannie in charge. There was obviously big reason why he left Jeannie in charge over his sons. I like Jeannie and I hope she remains in charge. You can tell she really wants what is best for the Lakers organization. I really think she has made the right moves as of late. Firing Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak took guts. You gotta respect what she's doing.

Expect for the crying to the media and the Kobe extension.

[The_Watcher]

The Kobe extension will always be somewhat of a head-scratcher, but at least we kept him a Laker for life, and for everything he did for this organization, he deserved the money.

Imagine what he would've made this season had he stuck it out into the new CBA and not retired. It's a bargain compared to what the likes of Mike Conley is making. No offense to Mike.

[stan francisco]

We'll see the Lakers play better once Jim moves on. Unlike other things like corporate profits, bad chemistry does trickle down.

[Michael Lucky]

Jeanie will NEVER sell. How you feel about that is up to you. But that would be a dagger in her fathers grave (in her mind).

That's fine, but it won't necessarily prevent the other family members from selling their shares. At which point a new ownership group can still take over, I would assume.

[madmaxmedia]

No my point is that we don't actually know what is going on and who is in the right in this situation. Johnny wasn't fired last month. I just believe we have a right to hear their side of their story as much as Jeanie's. Just because Jim was a failure as an executive doesn't automatically give Jeanie the right to do whatever she wants either. I have no problem with Jim being removed from his position since his last stint over the summer was a complete failure and we'll be paying for it over the next three years. Having said that I have seen nothing from Jeanie that makes me any more confident in her abilities to get this team out of the cellar and competitive for championships. Mostly because throughout the last decade she has been the one that has constantly gone to the media to lay the dirt out when it comes to the inner workings and thoughts of the front office. Something that is very damaging to the image as a whole of the team.

Actually, I believe as controlling owner of the Lakers she indeed has the authority to make any move she wants. Jim may have his own side of the story, but it appears he has no legal leg to stand on here:

According to Streisand, the trust commands that the trust (effectively the Buss family) retain control of the Lakers until the trust is terminated. The wording of the trust, as excerpted by Streisand, also highlights the wish of Dr. Buss for his daughter to remain in control of the team: “the Trustees shall take whatever actions are reasonably available to them to have JEANIE M. BUSS appointed as the new Controlling Owner of The Los Angeles Lakers, Inc.”

http://www.si.com/nba/2017/03/03/los-angeles-lakers-jeanie-buss-jim-buss-magic-johnson-rob-pelinka-court-family-trust

What Jeannie has done is no different than any other NBA (controlling) owner firing FO personnel, head coach, etc. Whether Jeannie or Jim is more qualified to make the basketball decisions isn't actually relevant, though Jim's track record has been poor and Jeannie's/Magic's is still to be seen. I don't know if there is any plausible chance to have the trust be dissolved, if the trust itself covers this (EDIT- a sale of the team would dissolve the trust and requires a majority vote by the 6 voting family members- http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/19/sports/la-sp-lakers-ownership-20130219)

Unless there is other relevant clauses in the trust that change the quoted text, Jim and Johnny have no ability to force any change in the ownership structure of the Lakers, or change the controlling owner of the Lakers. This was a pretty amateur hour move, I mean I guess no harm in trying? But it makes them look bad, and is bad PR for the Laker organization as a whole.

[madmaxmedia]

Jeanie will NEVER sell. How you feel about that is up to you. But that would be a dagger in her fathers grave (in her mind).

That's fine, but it won't necessarily prevent the other family members from selling their shares. At which point a new ownership group can still take over, I would assume.

No, actually it appears they can't-

The ownership stake held by the Buss family will now be held in a trust. The team cannot be sold off in smaller pieces, only in its two-thirds entirety, according to longtime Buss family spokesman Bob Steiner.

"The entity cannot be split," Steiner said Monday.
...
Even if some Buss family members wanted to sell, there would be factors limiting that possibility. A majority vote (four of six) would be needed among Buss' adult children — Jim, Jeanie, Johnny, Joey, Jesse, and Janie Drexel. Buss' ex-wife, JoAnn, also owns an undisclosed share of the team that is part of the family stake, but she does not get a vote.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/19/sports/la-sp-lakers-ownership-20130219

[ALL HAIL]

It seems that Jim Buss, like many on this board, probably fantasized as a child of making trades and running the Lakers, so his father let him live out his dream. If I had the same power, I probably would give my son the same opportunity.

Kudos to Jeannie Buss, however, for having the balls to pull the plug on pops gift to Lucky Sperm. I'm pretty sure Oldman Buss knew, or at least felt quite strongly, that Jeannie had the type of mentality to make "big balls" moves like this.

So Buss, on his deathbed, wanted to hook up his misunderstood son, but was smart enough to give his pit bull daughter more power thinking that if his misunderstood son was inept, she'd have no problem doing what was right for the brand.

Everything played out as it should have. Jeannie even got her dumb-ass, completely over confident brother to publicly give himself an arbitrary deadline to ease any possible PR backlash.

I know they say you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but in this case, the cover showed us an idiot with a perpetual cap, and the book was just that. If there was ever any doubt, this lawsuit only cements our collective suspicions.

[Michael Lucky]

Jeanie will NEVER sell. How you feel about that is up to you. But that would be a dagger in her fathers grave (in her mind).

That's fine, but it won't necessarily prevent the other family members from selling their shares. At which point a new ownership group can still take over, I would assume.

No, actually it appears they can't-

The ownership stake held by the Buss family will now be held in a trust. The team cannot be sold off in smaller pieces, only in its two-thirds entirety, according to longtime Buss family spokesman Bob Steiner.

"The entity cannot be split," Steiner said Monday.
...
Even if some Buss family members wanted to sell, there would be factors limiting that possibility. A majority vote (four of six) would be needed among Buss' adult children — Jim, Jeanie, Johnny, Joey, Jesse, and Janie Drexel. Buss' ex-wife, JoAnn, also owns an undisclosed share of the team that is part of the family stake, but she does not get a vote.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/19/sports/la-sp-lakers-ownership-20130219

This is even better then. Looks like that once four of them want to sell (and it looks to me like Johnny and Jim are pushing for this already), Jeanie will be gone with the rest of the Buss family.

[Landsberger]

That's fine, but it won't necessarily prevent the other family members from selling their shares. At which point a new ownership group can still take over, I would assume.

No, actually it appears they can't-

The ownership stake held by the Buss family will now be held in a trust. The team cannot be sold off in smaller pieces, only in its two-thirds entirety, according to longtime Buss family spokesman Bob Steiner.

"The entity cannot be split," Steiner said Monday.
...
Even if some Buss family members wanted to sell, there would be factors limiting that possibility. A majority vote (four of six) would be needed among Buss' adult children — Jim, Jeanie, Johnny, Joey, Jesse, and Janie Drexel. Buss' ex-wife, JoAnn, also owns an undisclosed share of the team that is part of the family stake, but she does not get a vote.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/19/sports/la-sp-lakers-ownership-20130219

This is even better then. Looks like that once four of them want to sell (and it looks to me like Johnny and Jim are pushing for this already), Jeanie will be gone with the rest of the Buss family.

The tax hit would be massive. The family would lose their stream of income forever. These people don't have other jobs or careers.

Keep in mind that any appreciation in the trust form the day Dr. Buss died is taxable at the time of the sale. That's about 2/3 of the current value by all guesses. In CA that tax hit could be over 40%. In addition there may have been tax differed or depreciated assets inside the trust that also would be exposed to taxes. The basis for those is typically scheduled as well. That money is due when the trust is dissolved.

This alone could be an $400 to $500 million dollar reason to work this out.

That said, this group seems to be more interested in who is right than what is right.

[TylersLakers]

What's really sad is this: Dr. Buss is probably turning in his grave right now. That's the sad part.

[danfantastk32]

What's really sad is this: Dr. Buss is probably turning in his grave right now. That's the sad part.

Yeah....Disappointed in his kids for all this fighting. $$$ man.....it really messes it for some.

There's a small part though...you can't ignore: he'd look at Jim, and be like "dude....wtf did you DO to the team, man?!"

RIP Jerry......we'll all get through this. You gave us more than enough. Time for someone else to step up.

[Kilroy]

What's really sad is this: Dr. Buss is probably turning in his grave right now. That's the sad part.

Honestly, I think this is exactly what Dr. Buss wanted... He wanted his kids to have to work out their differences... The 'Golden Egg' he built up and that facilitated their collective lifestyles for years both financially and with the fame that came with it, is now an albatross around their necks and the only way to profit from it is to work together, either in running the team or selling it...

I mean you don't set up a will like that unless you have a plan. I think this was always his plan.

That, and by all reports, the last decision Dr Buss had a say in was hiring MDA over Phil... It's not like the team wasn't well down this path then either.