Buss family potentially suffers massive $3,000,000,000 loss in LA Lakers record majority stake sale: Here’s how

The Buss family completed a historic sale of the LA Lakers franchise on Wednesday, valued at $10 billion, marking the end of their ownership after over four decades. While it’s the largest sale of a sports franchise, the Buss family may have lost at least $3 billion in the team’s valuation

When Jerry Buss, Jeanie’ father, had bought the Lakers in 1979, along with the hockey team LA Kings, and the arena LA Forum, it was worth $68 million. If that money was invested in the S&P 500 that year, it would have amounted to $13 billion now, about $3 billion three more than the current Lakers’ valuation.

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However, it's worth noting that the Buss family sold the Kings and The Forum in 1988 and 2000, respectively, at a time when the Lakers franchise had become one of the most prominent across sports.

With the sale, the Buss family ended their 46-year majority ownership of the Lakers, which saw them garner 11 NBA championships. It also marks the end of the longest ownership of a franchise in NBA history.

Jeanie Buss took over ownership from her father Jerry, when he died in 2013. Since then, the Lakers have only won one championship, in 2020.

The Lakers are now in the hands of sports businessman Mark Walter, who's a part of the ownership group of the LA Sparks and the LA Dodgers.

While Buss remains the Lakers' governor and minority owner, Walter will take majority control of the franchise, which ended the season in the first round of the playoffs after finishing with the third seed in the regular season.

The Lakers are now led by Luka Doncic, who's regarded as the team’s longtime cornerstone, and an aging LeBron James.

Lakers legend believes new owner is the right person for the job

LA Lakers legend Magic Johnson expressed excitement for the franchise after the sale, as he believes Mark Walter is the right person for the job.

“Laker fans should be (ecstatic). A few things I can tell you about Mark - he is driven by winning, excellence, and doing everything the right way. AND he will put in the resources needed to win!,” Johnson wrote on X.

Earvin Magic Johnson

@MagicJohnson

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Laker fans should be estatic. A few things I can tell you about Mark - he is driven by winning, excellence, and doing everything the right way. AND he will put in the resources needed to win! I can understand why Jeanie sold the team to Mark Walter because they are just alike - they are competitive people, l have big hearts, love to give back, and both prefer to be behind the scenes. This makes all the sense in the world. I am so so SO happy and excited for

@Lakers

fans all over the world!!

Johnson was one of the first Lakers superstars in the Buss’s ownership era. Johnson has also been a close confidant of Walter, having joined him in the Sparks’ ownership group.

It remains to be seen how Walter’s takeover impacts the Lakers' fortunes in the league.

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About the author

Rob Andrew Lo

Rob Andrew Lo is an NBA and WNBA journalist at Sportskeeda with over three years of experience in the field. Rob studied journalism at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines and his love for sports made this an obvious career to pursue.

Rob's favorite team is the Oklahoma City Thunder. He grew up watching Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant and his admiration for them left not only a lasting impression but solidified his fandom.

When not working, Rob loves to play basketball. If he isn't watching or writing about basketball, he can probably be found watching pro wrestling.

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