The Los Angeles Lakers’ next ownership structure is coming into sharper focus, and the details may be especially significant for Jeanie Buss.
Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner agreed last month to buy Mark Walter’s controlling stake in the Lakers in a deal valuing the franchise at $12.5 billion. Early coverage often presented the two as co-equal buyers. But a new report suggests the hierarchy will be more defined.
According to the New York Post’s Charles Gasparino, Kushner is expected to become the Lakers’ controlling shareholder and governor, while Iger would hold a minority stake, serve as alternate governor and take on a prominent day-to-day management role.
That arrangement would give Iger considerable influence without making him the final authority.
For Buss, that distinction matters because her own place atop the organization is already in limbo.
Josh Kushner Expected to Hold Final Authority
Gasparino reported that Kushner is expected to satisfy the NBA’s ownership requirement for a controlling governor, positioning him as the person with ultimate authority once the sale is approved.
Iger’s role appears more operational.
The former Disney chief is expected to be heavily involved in managing the franchise and could become one of its most visible executives. His decades in the entertainment business, relationships around the NBA and experience overseeing ESPN make him a natural fit for a major leadership role.
But the ownership chain would still run through Kushner.
That creates a much different dynamic than the arrangement Buss has operated under since Walter purchased control of the Lakers in 2025.
Iger Previously Said Jeanie Buss Agreement Would Be Honored
When Iger and Kushner first agreed to buy Walter’s stake in August, there was little indication Buss’ governorship was immediately threatened.
Walter’s 2025 purchase included an arrangement allowing Buss to remain the Lakers’ governor for at least five years. Iger publicly said his group intended to respect that deal.
“We have enormous respect and appreciation for Jeanie, her father and what they’ve contributed to this franchise,” Iger told the California Post on Aug. 12.
He added that the incoming owners had “every intention to honor the agreement that was made between Mark and Jeanie,” while leaving one notable qualifier: “If things change, they’ll change.”
At the time, that sounded like boilerplate flexibility.
Three weeks later, it reads differently.
Buss Family Feud Changes the Lakers Equation
Five of Buss’ siblings have since voted to sell the family’s remaining 17.8% stake in the Lakers to Iger and Kushner, touching off another bitter Buss family legal fight. Jeanie is attempting to block the sale, arguing a 2017 court order requires the family trust to take reasonable steps to keep her in place as the Lakers’ controlling owner.
If the family’s stake is sold, Buss would fall below the NBA’s 15% ownership threshold required to serve as governor.
That means the fight is no longer simply about whether Iger and Kushner intend to honor Walter’s agreement.
The Buss family could make that agreement impossible to maintain.
The Lakers’ 17.8% family stake has become the fault line in the transition. Jeanie contends the sale cannot proceed without the approval of the trust’s co-trustees and has asked a Los Angeles court to invalidate her siblings’ efforts.
Meanwhile, the Walter-to-Iger-and-Kushner transaction is expected to proceed independently of the Buss dispute, although the family battle could determine who represents the Lakers on the NBA Board of Governors.
Jeanie Buss Could Lose More Than Lakers Ownership Stake
That is what makes the Post’s latest reporting consequential.
Kushner is positioned to become the controlling shareholder. Iger is positioned to wield substantial day-to-day influence. And Buss is fighting to preserve the ownership percentage that allows her to retain her formal authority.
Even if Iger still wants to honor the original agreement, the circumstances surrounding it have changed dramatically.
Buss could remain an important figure around the Lakers regardless of how the litigation ends. But her ability to remain governor may ultimately be decided not by Iger’s intentions, but by the family trust, the courts and the NBA.
The Lakers are moving toward a new ownership era.
The question now is whether Jeanie Buss will still have a seat at the head of the table when it arrives.
Lakers’ New Ownership Roles Could Put Jeanie Buss’ Governorship in Jeopardy