Bob Iger is (understandably) hoping for a quick resolution to the Buss family’s mess.
The former Disney CEO Iger and his fellow incoming Los Angeles Lakers owner Joshua Kushner would like to move on from the Buss drama as seamlessly as possible by buying out the family’s shares. Arash Markazi of The Sporting Tribune reports that the duo could possibly remove Jeanie Buss as Lakers governor if the sale is blocked but notes that outcome would be “the least desired pathway.”
Iger and Kushner agreed in principle last week to purchase the Lakers from outgoing majority owner Mark Walter for a whopping sum of $12.5 billion. Walter had just bought the franchise from the Buss family last year (for $10 billion) and had a contractual agreement with them in which Jeanie Buss would remain the Lakers governor for at least the remainder of the decade.
Upon the news of the impending sale to Iger and Kushner, it quickly became unclear what the status was of the Buss family (who remained minority owners of the Lakers franchise). Iger said publicly though that he would be willing to honor the agreement between Walter and the Buss family by keeping Jeanie on as the team’s governor.
But earlier this week, the bombshell news broke that the Buss family (comprised of six siblings) had decided by a majority vote to sell off their shares to Iger and Kushner as part of a tag-along clause. Jeanie Buss did not vote in favor of the sale though and subsequently claimed that any such attempt by her siblings to sell was “void,” setting the stage for a potentially messy legal battle.
The plot thickened on Tuesday with the other five Buss siblings notably snubbing Jeanie in a public statement on their decision to sell. As for Iger and Kushner though, they are just hoping for the quickest resolution possible to this Buss family headache so that they can get on with their purchase of the Lakers.
