When the Buss siblings voted on whether to sell a majority stake of the Los Angeles Lakers to a group led by Mark Walter, the decision was reportedly not unanimous. Jeanie Buss was considered the swing vote between her three siblings from Dr. Jerry Buss' first marriage and a pair of younger siblings from his second marriage who each currently work in basketball operations for the Lakers.
Because Jeanie Buss was viewed as the swing vote, that could have played a role in her reportedly retaining her role as governor of the franchise.
"Jerry Buss has six children—four from his first marriage, two from his second marriage—and they're pretty different in age," explained Brian Windhorst on Get Up. "To get the team to do anything significant like sell, there has to be a majority vote, and that's what happened here. It was not unanimous.
"So while I don't know exactly the dynamics of how the vote went, historically the older children had more interest in maybe selling, whereas the younger children didn't. And Jeanie Buss represented the swing vote, so getting Jeanie on board was vital for Mark Walter and his group. And the fact that she's going to remain as governor obviously could have very much played into that decision.
"They are selling about 51 percent of the team. They own 66 percent, so they're going to get about $5 billion—still incredibly, you know, huge price for the team that Dr. Buss bought in 1979."
Jesse Buss is currently assistant general manager and director of scouting, while Joey Buss works with the Lakers' G League team.
Each of the six Buss siblings will receive approximately $850 million from the sale of the Lakers once it is finalized and approved. The siblings will each retain approximately 2.5 percent ownership of the Lakers, which is worth another $250 million based on the $10 billion valuation.