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There's no telling the full history of the Los Angeles Lakers without mentioning the Buss family.
For decades, both Dr. Jerry Buss and his daughter, Jeanie Buss, have been running the show for one of professional sports' most iconic franchises and one of the most financially well-off clubs in the NBA.
From 1979-2025, a member of the Buss family has held majority ownership of the Lakers. In the years between, Los Angeles' NBA team has consistently produced championship seasons with plenty of big-name stars, from Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.
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On June 18, 2025, Jeanie Buss and the rest of the Buss family reportedly agreed to sell majority ownership of the Lakers to Mark Walter for a valuation of around $10 billion, per ESPN. It's set to mark the largest-ever sale of a U.S. professional sports team, and Jeanie Buss is also set to remain in her current position as Lakers governor.
The sale marks the end of an era in Los Angeles for the Buss family, which turned an eight-figure investment in the team back in 1979 into an 11-figure sale in 2025.
Here's a full breakdown of the history of the Buss family owning the Lakers, from their original purchase and 11 NBA titles to the reported June 2025 sale that makes sports history.
MORE: Everything to know about the historic $10 billion sale of the Lakers
Buss family timeline with Lakers
1979: Jerry Buss purchases Lakers, LA Kings, and the Forum for $67.5 million
The Lakers were originally called the Detroit Gems when they were in the NBL, starting play in 1946. A year later, the franchise moved to Minnesota and was renamed the Minneapolis Lakers, and ownership changed a few times in the team's early years. By 1960, the team was forced to move to Los Angeles due to financial losses in Minnesota, and it began finding more success.
In 1965, then-Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke bought the Lakers for $5.175 million, a record for the NBA at the time, and later financed the construction of a new arena called The Forum.
However, it was in 1979 that Cookie decided to move on from the team while going through a divorce. He wound up selling the Lakers, the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, and The Forum for a total of $67.5 million to Jerry Buss, then a highly successful real estate investor in Los Angeles. Buss later sold his control of the Kings in 1988.
Jerry Buss also took control of operating Los Angeles' new WNBA franchise, the Sparks, in 1996. He sold the team 10 years later.
When Buss bought the Lakers, they had one championship as a member of the NBA. Under his leadership up until his death in 2023, the team went on to win 10 more titles.
1980: Lakers win NBA title in first year under Buss family ownership
It didn't take long for the Lakers to win a championship after Jerry Buss took over as owner. After drafting Magic Johnson in the 1979 NBA Draft with the first pick, the team immediately won 60 games and beat the 76ers in the Finals.
In many ways, it marked a new era for the Lakers behind Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar, about to hit a level of success that eventually made them one of the most well-known franchises in American sports.
1980-88: 'Showtime' Lakers win five total championships
Including that 1980 title, the Lakers went on to win four more championships in the decade behind teams led by Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy, often going head-to-head with the Celtics as two of the most well-known and iconic NBA teams in the world.
In 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988, the Lakers walked away with the title, earning the nickname "Showtime" along the way for their flashy play style led by Johnson at point guard.
As Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson retired within the span of a few years, the team fell to the backburner within the NBA while Michael Jordan and the Bulls grew in prominence, but it wouldn't be very long before Jerry Buss' Lakers were back in title contention.
1994: Magic Johnson buys small stake in Lakers franchise
In 1994, just a few years following his first retirement due to HIV and not long removed from serving as a coach with the Lakers, Magic Johnson purchased a five percent share of the team from Jerry Buss for a reported $10 million.
Johnson went on to sell his share of the franchise in 2010 for an undisclosed amount, and he later became the Lakers' president of basketball operations for a period in the late 2010s before stepping away from the role.
2000-02: Lakers three-peat with Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal
Another golden era of Lakers success under Jerry Buss' ownership was the early 2000s. After acquiring the draft rights to a young phenom named Kobe Bryant in 1996, they signed star center Shaquille O'Neal to a free-agent deal.
Those acquisitions became two of the best decisions in the history of the franchise. While it took a few seasons for Bryant to emerge as a superstar and the Lakers to reach title contention, they hired Phil Jackson as head coach in 1999-2000 and won a championship that season. The '99-2000 season also marked the Lakers' first year in a new arena, Staples Center.
With Bryant and O'Neal leading the way, the Lakers won the 2001 and 2002 titles, as well, and O'Neal won three straight Finals MVP awards. The dynastic run ended after a loss to Detroit in the 2004 NBA Finals and a trade sending O'Neal to Miami, but the early 2000s were another era of iconic success for the Lakers under Jerry Buss' ownership.
2009-10: Lakers go back-to-back in titles with Kobe Bryant
While the Lakers still had their star in Bryant throughout the 2000s, it took them a while to re-emerge as a championship contender once again. But after Bryant won the 2007-08 MVP award, the team reached three consecutive NBA Finals from 2008-10, thanks, in part to a trade that paired Bryant with Pau Gasol.
In 2007-08, the Lakers lost to the Celtics in the Finals. The next season, though, they beat the Magic to win the championship, and in 2009-10, they got revenge on Boston with a second straight ring.
Also in 2010, the Lakers became the first NBA team to reach 10,000 wins, a mark of their success in the decades after Buss took over as the majority owner.
2010: Jerry Buss elected to Basketball Hall of Fame
In 2010, Jerry Buss was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for his contributions to the NBA as the owner of the Lakers. His bio on the Hall of Fame website notes Buss' "mark on the City of Angels and the game of basketball."
"Exercising leadership that brought together some of the greatest players in history, matching them with brilliant coaches, innovative management, and groundbreaking marketing, Buss helped set the ownership standard for NBA franchises," Buss' Hall of Fame bio reads.
2013: Jerry Buss dies, passes Lakers off to Jeanie Buss and other five children
Jerry Buss died at the age of 80 on Feb. 18, 2013. When he died, the Lakers' franchise was valued by Forbes at $1 billion.
Following his death, Buss' ownership of the Lakers was passed down to six of his children. By that point, his daughter, Jeanie Buss, had already spent years as the executive vice president of business operations for the Lakers, while his son, Jim Buss, was given the title of vice president of player personnel.
When Jerry Buss died, his 66 percent majority ownership of the team was passed down to his six children via a trust, and each child got an equal vote. He also named Jeanie Buss to succeed him as the team's governor and representative at NBA Board of Governors meetings. As the new president of the Lakers, Jeanie Buss had control over the team's business operations, while Jim Buss remained in charge of the basketball side of things, although Jeanie had the top operational authority.
At the time, the Buss family announced that they had no intentions of selling the team, saying that the "future of the organization will remain unchanged," per ESPN, and that "the six of [the Buss children] agreed unanimously to keep the team in the family for generations to come."
None of the six children individually owned the team, as the trust was managed by the family as a whole, so none of them could sell their individual stake. However, if four of the six siblings voted in favor of a sale, it could be approved.
2017: Jeanie Buss fires Jim as head of basketball operations, given lifetime operational control over team
Another change in the Buss family's control over the Lakers came in 2017. Jeanie and Jim Buss had been disagreeing on franchise decisions for some time, including Jim's hiring of Mike D'Antoni as head coach in 2012, as well as some of his free agent decisions.
In February 2017, Jeanie Buss fired Jim Buss as vice president of basketball operations with the Lakers failing to make the playoffs in each season from 2013-14 to 2016-17. ESPN reported that Jeanie Buss had previously asked her brother to consult her over big basketball decisions, which he did not do, leading her to make the significant change as the person with the top authority of the team.
Jim Buss' firing is what led to Magic Johnson being hired as President of Basketball Operations and Rob Pelinka as the team's general manager. At the time, Johnny Buss also attempted to remove Jeanie from her role with the team and step down, but Jeanie filed a lawsuit to confirm her control over the Lakers.
Citing the succession plan in the trust created by Jerry Buss and the fact that she gave Jim Buss years to succeed in his role, Jeanie Buss was then officially given lifetime control over the Lakers, ending any questions of which Buss family member was in charge.
2018: Lakers sign LeBron James, signaling next era
With the dispute between the Buss siblings over and the Lakers needing some juice to return to their national prominence following Bryant's retirement, they got their answer in 2018 when superstar LeBron James signed a free-agent deal with the team.
Also acquiring star big man Anthony Davis the next season, it was another new era for the Lakers under the Buss family, with Jeanie Buss and Pelinka at the helm of the front office.
2020: Lakers win final championship of Buss family era, tie Celtics for most titles
With James and Davis leading the way, the Lakers won the 2020 championship during the COVID-19 pandemic bubble in Orlando. It was their 17th title, tying the Celtics for the most in NBA history at the time before Boston won an 18th in 2024.
It was also the final championship of the Buss family era for the Lakers.
2021: Mark Walter purchases 20% stake in Lakers, obtains right of first refusal for team sale
In 2021, Los Angeles Dodgers co-owners Mark Walter and Todd Boehly both bought minority stakes in the Lakers. Walter's was worth 20 percent and Boehly's was worth seven percent.
Perhaps more importantly, though, Walter and Boehly also reportedly obtained the right to refuse a potential sale of the Lakers if the Buss family decided to do sell, the first sign of the eventual succession path from the Buss family to Walter in 2025.
2025: Buss family reportedly sells Lakers for $10 billion
On June 18, 2025, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that the Buss family was selling their majority stake in the Lakers for a whopping $10 billion to Walter, with Jeanie Buss retaining her role as team governor.
It became the highest reported sports team sale in history, and it marked billions of dollars in profit for the Buss family after Jerry Buss' purchase in 1979. Charania also reported that the Buss family would still retain just over 15 percent ownership of the Lakers.
MORE: Why the Buss family chose to sell the Lakers
Buss family net worth
As of June 2025, Celebrity Net Worth estimated Jeanie Buss to be worth $700 million. However, the reported sale of the Lakers is sure to change things for her and her siblings, as the $10 billion majority ownership sale would likely be pocketed between them.
With the Buss family also reportedly still set to retain minority ownership in the Lakers, that also factors into their assets.
Lakers record under Buss family leadership
The Lakers' first season under Jerry Buss' majority ownership was 1979-80, and their final season under Buss family majority ownership came in 2024-25.
Over that period, the Lakers had a total record of 2,236-1,467 in the regular season, which equates to a winning percentage of .604 and about 50 wins in an 82-game regular season. Los Angeles also accumulated 11 championships over that period.
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