Buss family selling Lakers’ ownership to Josh Kushner, Bob Iger

Nypost · Aug 17, 2026 · 743 words · By Khobi Price

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What to know about Buss family selling Lakers’ ownership to Josh Kushner, Bob Iger

The Buss family is selling their remaining ownership stakes in the Lakers to the new majority owners.

Claims checked 21

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

The Buss family is selling their remaining ownership stakes in the Lakers to the new majority owners.

Why it matters

The family, which has had ownership stakes in the Lakers since the late Dr.

Common ground

Jerry Buss purchased the franchise in 1979, is selling its remaining ownership stake in the franchise to businessman Josh Kushner and former The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Buss family selling Lakers’ ownership to Josh Kushner, Bob Iger?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The Buss family’s remaining shares in the Lakers was close to 18% of the franchise?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/08/17/sports/buss-family-selling-lakers-ownership-to-jos…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 21 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 11

check_circle Corroborated 8

info Single Source 1

help Insufficient Evidence 1

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Claim 1: “The Buss family’s remaining shares in the Lakers was close to 18% of the franchise.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the Buss family trust retained a minority stake of approximately 18% (or 'nearly 18%') after the initial sale to Walter.

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web search NEUTRAL — The Buss family trust voted last June to sell its controlling interest in the team to Walter at a $10 billion valuation while retaining a minority stake in the Lakers of approximately 18 percent. At t…
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7519719/2026/08/17/lakers-b…

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web search NEUTRAL — Los Angeles Lakers Odds. NBA Picks and Predictions.On Monday, the Buss Family Trust agreed to sell its remaining nearly 18% of the Lakers to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, a surprising final twist in the …
https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/lakers-news/125209/jeani…

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web search NEUTRAL — Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss attends the team's NBA preseason basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Oct. 12, 2022, in Los Angeles.
https://fortune.com/2026/08/18/buss-family-lakers-stake-jean…

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Claim 2: “Walter and his business partner, Todd Boehly, are looking to sell their minority ownership stakes in Chelsea Football Club to majority owner Clearlake Capital”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 3: “the late Dr. Jerry Buss purchased the franchise in 1979”

CORROBORATED

Confirmed by multiple independent sources including BBC News and Nypost, as well as Wikipedia entries for Jerry Buss.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Johnny Hatten Buss (born October 18, 1956) is an American sports executive who is a part-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously held positions as p…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Buss

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Jeanie Marie Buss (born September 26, 1961) is an American sports executive who is the governor and minority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). She is also c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanie_Buss

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Gerald Hatten Buss (January 27, 1933 – February 18, 2013) was an American businessman, investor, chemist, and philanthropist. He was the majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basket…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Buss

+ 2 more evidence sources

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Claim 4: “Kushner and Iger are buying around 65% of the Lakers in their deal with Walter, meaning they’ll own around 83% of the franchise once the sales are official.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 5: “Kushner also must sell his minority ownership stake in the Heat before he can officially become the Lakers’ co-majority owner.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 6: “Kushner and Iger have an agreement to buy the majority ownership of the Lakers from Mark Walter at a historic valuation of $12.5 billion.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources (LinkedIn/ESPN report, AOL) confirm the agreement between Kushner and Iger to buy the majority ownership from Mark Walter for $12.5 billion.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026–27 Los Angeles Lakers season will be the 80th season of the franchise, its 79th season in the National Basketball Association (NBA), its 67th season in Los Angeles, and its 28th season playin…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026–27_Los_Angeles_Lakers_sea…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Robert Alan Iger (; born February 10, 1951) is an American media executive who was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Walt Disney Company twice, from 2005 to 2020 and from 2022 to 2026. He previ…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Iger

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Joshua Kushner (born June 12, 1985) is an American businessman and venture capitalist. He is a founder and managing partner of the venture capital firm Thrive Capital, co-founder and vice-chairman of …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Kushner

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 7: “The deal also included the NHL’s Kings and the Forum in Inglewood.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 8: “the FBI seized Walter’s phone and laptop, as well as a top Guggenheim Investments executive last year.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 9: “Buss sold the Kings to Bruce McNall in 1988, and sold the Forum in 1999”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 10: “The NBA requires that all Governors have an ownership stake of at least 15% of the franchise to be in the role.”

CORROBORATED

Three separate web search results explicitly state that NBA rules require a team governor to hold at least a 15% ownership stake.

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web search NEUTRAL — The order requires the family to maintain at least a 15% ownership stake for Jeanie to retain her role as governor.If the Buss family proceeds with the sale, Jeanie would lose her position as governor…
https://www.iheart.com/content/2026-08-18-buss-family-disput…

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web search NEUTRAL — Yet, NBA rules mandate that a person must retain at least a 15% ownership stake in a franchise to act as governor. It is unclear who will serve in that role moving forward.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/lakers/2026/08/17/…

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web search NEUTRAL — NBA rules allow for someone to be a team governor only if they own at least 15% of the team, which the Buss family trust retained despite selling majority control to Walter.The Buss family trust requi…
https://www.soz6.com/news/buss-family-sells-lakers-stake-end…

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Claim 11: “The Buss family has owned the Lakers since May 1979, when Jerry Buss bought the franchise from Jack Kent Cooke for $67.5 million.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 12: “ESPN reported Jeanie didn’t vote to sell the family’s ownership stake in the Lakers, while the other five siblings in the trust did.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 13: “the next board meeting scheduled for mid-September in New York.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 14: “The Buss family is selling their remaining ownership stakes in the Lakers to the new majority owners.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that the Buss family has agreed to sell their remaining ownership stakes in the Lakers to new majority owners (specifically the Bob Iger/Josh Kushner group).

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 15: “She’s been the franchise’s Governor after her father died in February 2013.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm Jeanie Buss has been the governor since her father's death in February 2013.

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web search NEUTRAL — Jeanie Marie Buss is an American sports executive who is the governor and minority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. She is also co-owner and promoter of the U.S.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanie_Buss

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web search NEUTRAL — Jeanie Buss has been the Lakers’ governor since Jerry Buss’ death in 2013, and she led the family’s decision to sell a controlling stake in the Lakers to Dodgers owner Mark Walter last year at a valua…
https://www.usnews.com/news/sports/articles/2026-08-17/buss-…

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web search NEUTRAL — She has been the governor of the Lakers since 2013, taking over after her father, Jerry Buss, died. "We have decided as a family to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Bob Iger group as…
https://abc7.com/post/sources-buss-family-selling-remaining-…

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Claim 16: “The Buss family agreed to sell the majority ownership of the Lakers to Walter, who is also the majority owner of the Dodgers, in June 2025 in a deal that became official last October at a valuation of $10 billion”

CORROBORATED

Multiple reports confirm the Buss family sold majority ownership to Mark Walter (Dodgers owner) at a $10 billion valuation, with the deal becoming official in October.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Wes…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Lakers

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mark Richard Walter (born May 22, 1960) is an American businessman, philanthropist, and the chief executive officer of Guggenheim Partners, a privately held global financial services firm with more th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Walter

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 17: “Walter, who’s the CEO of Guggenheim Partners and TWG Global, will wind up being the majority owner of the Lakers for less than a year.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 18: “When Walter purchased the majority ownership of the Lakers from the Buss family, the league announced that Buss would remain the team’s Governor for a period of at least five years.”

SINGLE SOURCE

Only one relevant source mentions the pact that Jeanie Buss would remain governor for at least five years after Mark Walter's purchase. Other search results for this claim were irrelevant (about Zurich).

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web search NEUTRAL — Zurich (German: Zürich; Alemannic German: Züri; see below) is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, [4] at the northwestern tip o…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zurich

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web search NEUTRAL — In the wake of this, during the 9th century, Zurich gradually acquired the characteristics of a medieval city. It was now the center of the separate county of Zürichgau, detached from the older county…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Zurich

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web search NEUTRAL — Buss was granted the opportunity to continue in that role for at least five years after Mark Walter, who also owns the Los Angeles Dodgers, agreed to purchase a controlling interest in the Lakers from…
https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/josh-kushner-bob-iger-r…

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Claim 19: “The Buss family trust, which includes six of Jerry Buss’ children – Jeanie, Johnny, Jim, Janie, Joey and Jesse – needed a majority vote (four out of six) to allow the trustees to sell their shares.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to confirm the specific voting requirements (4 out of 6) of the Buss family trust.

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Claim 20: “The Lakers have won 11 championships since Jerry Buss purchased the franchise 1979, which is the most by any NBA team during that span.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 21: “the family is selling its remaining ownership stake in the franchise to businessman Josh Kushner and former The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources report the sale of the remaining stake to businessman Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.