Lakers Ownership Notes: Buss Family, Iger, Walter

Current Lakers the governor Ginny Bass filed a petition last month to block her brothers and sisters from the sale of the family’s minority stake in the team using the tag-alone clause thereafter Mark Walter agreed to sell his majority of shares to the group headed by Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger.

According to Hobie Price of The California Posta hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court was originally scheduled for Nov. 8, but was moved to Dec. 8 after Ginny’s attorney asked for — and received — a continuance in the motion.

Here are a few more notes related to Lakers ownership:

• According to reports, after the completion of the change of ownership Iger is expected to be the “most involved” partner in the Lakers. However, Kushner, whose net worth has grown to $16.7 billion Forbes – will become the new majority owner, he writes Charles Gasparino of The New York Post. “Bob will not be in control” one person close to Kushner told Gasparino.Bob is expected to be a minority owner, an alternate governor and the day-to-day management of the team, but not the team manager.”
• Walter’s finances have been the subject of an ongoing investigation by federal law enforcement as officials from the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Delaware’s insurance regulator look into up to $21 billion in undisclosed loans made by insurers Walter owns to companies associated with him. Walter’s decision to sell the Lakers for a record $12.5 billion less than a year after he bought the team led to speculation that he may also divest his other professional sports franchises, most notably MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers. In a detailed profile of the 66-year-old man, Kevin Baxter of The Los Angeles Times reports that the Dodgers could be sold for $10 billion to $13 billion, although a person close to Walter insists he has no intention of selling the team that won the World Series.
• The same source familiar with Walter’s thinking says he will open for sale his minority stake in English Premier League club Chelsea “if the terms are right,” but reiterates that Walter has no current plans to sell the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, the Women’s Professional Hockey League or his professional squash investments.