The ongoing ownership dispute involving the Buss family and the Los Angeles Lakers offers an unusually public example of a challenge many family business owners eventually face: What happens when the next generation inherits a valuable business but does not agree about its future?
Dr. Jerry Buss purchased the Lakers in 1979 and built the franchise into one of the most recognizable brands in professional sports. After his death in 2013, interests in the Lakers were held through a family trust for his six children, with daughter Jeanie Buss eventually serving as the team's controlling representative and governor.
In 2025, the Buss family sold a controlling interest in the Lakers to Mark Walter in a transaction valuing the franchise at approximately $10 billion, while retaining a minority interest. Now, only about a year later, another ownership change is underway. A group led by former Disney CEO Bob Iger and investor Joshua Kushner have reportedly agreed to acquire the Lakers at a valuation of approximately $12.5 billion.
The latest complication involves the Buss family's remaining interest in the team. Most of the Buss siblings reportedly support selling the family's remaining shares. Jeanie Buss is challenging the proposed sale, however, with her attorney contending that the family's trust and a prior court order do not permit the transaction to proceed in the manner proposed.
The ultimate outcome remains uncertain. But the disagreement highlights several important estate planning considerations for anyone who owns a family business.
Leaving a Business to Children Is Only the Beginning
A business owner may spend decades building a company and naturally want all of his or her children to benefit from it. But economic ownership and management control do not necessarily have to be the same thing.
Imagine a parent with three children. One has worked in the family business for 20 years. Another has a completely different career. The third would rather sell the company and invest the proceeds. Leaving each child an equal voting interest may look fair on paper, but it can create significant problems after the parent's death.
Who runs the company? Who determines whether profits are distributed or reinvested? Can a majority of the children sell the business over the objection of the child who operates it? What happens if one child wants cash while the others want to continue the family enterprise?
A carefully designed estate plan should address these questions before the children are the ones required to answer them.
A Trust Alone Does Not Solve the Succession Problem
Placing a family business in a trust is an important part of an estate plan, but the trust must contain workable rules for the future.
For example, the plan may need to specify who has authority to vote business interests, what level of approval is required for a sale, how trustees resolve disagreements, and what happens when a trustee is also a beneficiary or an active participant in the business.
The plan should also consider an exit strategy. If one child wants to leave the family business, there may be ways to permit the other family members or the company itself to purchase that child's interest rather than forcing a sale of the entire enterprise.
Buy-sell agreements, voting and nonvoting interests, life insurance, redemption provisions, and independent trustees or managers are among the tools that should be considered, depending on the circumstances.
Equal Is Not Always the Same as Fair
Family business planning also illustrates why an equal division of every asset is not always the best solution.
A child who has devoted decades to operating a family company may have very different needs and responsibilities than siblings who have never participated in the business. In some families, it may make sense for one child to receive control while the other children receive nonvoting interests, other assets, insurance proceeds, or a right to be bought out. There is no single solution that works for every family. What matters is recognizing the potential conflict while the business owner is still able to establish the rules.
The Lesson for Family Business Owners
Few families will ever inherit an asset as valuable or visible as the Los Angeles Lakers. Yet the underlying succession problem is common. The founder builds the business. The children inherit it. Their interests eventually diverge.
A comprehensive estate plan should therefore answer more than "Who gets my business?" It should also address who will control it, how important decisions will be made, whether and how it can be sold, how disagreements will be resolved, and what happens when some family members want to stay while others want out.
The Buss family dispute is a timely reminder that transferring a successful family business to the next generation is not simply about transferring wealth. It is also about creating a governance structure capable of functioning after the founder is no longer there to keep everyone on the same page.
One final note. It’s vital to make sure the family business is properly vested to a trust as well to avoid Probate Court interference in the future.
If you, a friend, or a loved one would like to discuss estate planning and/or a business succession plan, contact our Intake Department at 760-448-2220 or visit us online at www.geigerlawoffice.com/contact.cfm. We proudly serve families throughout California from our offices in Carlsbad and Laguna Niguel.
