The twist comes less than a year after Mark Walter took control of the Los Angeles Lakers. Walter purchased a majority stake in the franchise for a reported $10 billion in October 2025. Now, he has sold that position to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger at a $12.5 billion valuation. The deal still needs NBA approval and has not closed. But the proposed ownership structure has already taken another surprising turn.

Although it was never confirmed, Iger looked like an ideal Lakers co-owner. He had decades of experience running Disney, which owns ESPN, and has worked closely with the NBA on major media-rights deals. Plus, he has known commissioner Adam Silver for more than two decades and also collaborated during the league’s 2020 restart at Disney World.

But Josh Kushner will be the lone controlling shareholder of the Lakers.

“Here’s the reality: Iger is indeed poised to become a major player with the Lakers when it comes to being a face of the team and an executive overseeing its operations – general manager, maybe. But he won’t be the “governor” in NBA parlance who makes the final decisions, “New York Post’s Charles Gasparino reported the new details.

“Bob will not be the control person,” one person close to Kushner told Gasparino. “It is expected that Bob will be a minority owner, an alternate governor, and lead the management of the team day-to-day, but not the governor of the team.”

The financial structure also helps explain why Kushner is taking control. Forbes currently estimates his fortune at $16.7 billion. A 15% stake in a $12.5 billion franchise would require roughly $1.875 billion.

Then there was bad news for Jeanie Buss as well.

“There can only be one governor per team, and that will be Josh Kushner,” Gasparino stated. “He will be putting up the 15% ownership stake.”

New details put pressure on Jeanie amid Buss family drama

According to Shams Charania, the Buss family trust secured the majority vote needed to allow trustees to execute the sale of its remaining 17.8% stake to the Iger-Kushner group, which valued the franchise at $12.5 billion.

The trust required four of six votes to trigger the relevant tag-along provision.

“We have decided as a family to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Bob Iger group as part of the ongoing transaction,” the Buss family said in a statement. “We love the Lakers, Laker fans and will continue to support Los Angeles; but it is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can.”

But the family vote has not ended the dispute. Jeanie Buss’ attorney, Adam Streisand, has argued that a 2017 court ruling obligates the trust’s co-trustees to preserve the minimum ownership needed for Buss to remain the Lakers’ controlling owner.

That puts the proposed sale on a potential legal collision course with the trust’s existing obligations.

“On behalf of Jeanie Buss, I demand that your clients make clear publicly that Jeanie Buss is the Controlling Owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and that your clients shall take no action on this supposed “vote” to sell the 17.8% stake.”

This would mean Jeanie Buss would lose her 15% ownership stake, which the NBA requires for a controlling owner or governor. It was a role the new owners also wanted Jeanie to continue in.

“We have every intention to honor the agreement that was made between Mark and Jeanie. If things change, they’ll change, but we’re going into this with enormous respect and appreciation for who she is and what she represents in the organization,” Iger said.

While Iger stated his intention to honor Jeanie’s governorship through 2030, he also hinted, “If something changes, then it changes.”

The Buss family retained 17.8% of the Lakers after Mark Walter’s 2025 purchase. That stake allowed Jeanie to retain her controlling-owner status. But the new report suggests Kushner is ready to take over the duties.