After agreeing to sell their stake in the Los Angeles Lakers, Joey and Jesse Buss are reinvesting their profits in a new endeavor.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin and Shams Charania reported the Buss brothers are starting Buss Sports Capital with the goal of “identifying acquisitions and partnerships across the global sports landscape.”
“Our vision is to really go after strategic investments and good partners — specifically sports-related investments,” Joey said. “Buss Sports Capital is not going to compete with our interests in the Lakers or the NBA. This is our first step towards where the future of sports is going to lead us. It is exciting to see what growth opportunities exist — particularly opportunities that we can add value to, given our skill sets.”
Jesse told McMenamin and Charania he sees this as a long-term project.
“I look forward to working with my brother, Joey, for the next 50 years and hopefully this is something that can live through our children,” he said. “That’s what our dad would have wanted.”
In June, the Buss family agreed to sell a controlling stake in the Lakers to Mark Walter in deal that values the franchise at a record-setting $10 billion. The transaction is still pending approval from the NBA’s board of governors.
McMenamin and Charania reported Joey and Jesse, along with Jeanie Buss, will all retain roles with the Lakers once Walter is the majority shareholder. They originally inherited the team from their father, Jerry Buss, in 2013 following his death.
Control of the Lakers was briefly the source of familial drama in 2017 before Jim and Johnny Buss, two of Jerry’s other sons, agreed to cede authority to Jeanie in perpetuity.
Joey is currently Los Angeles’ vice president of research and development, and he’s the alternate governor to fill in for any official NBA matters if Jeanie is unavailable. Jesse is an assistant general manager, a title he has held since September 2015.
At this stage, it’s unclear what types of investment opportunities the Buss brothers will pursue. Once the Lakers’ sale is finalized, Buss Sports Capital won’t have any liquidity problems.
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