Bob Iger’s Role In Lakers’ $12.5 Billion Sale Was ‘Exaggerated’, Josh Kushner To Take Over As Governor
· Yahoo Sports
Less than a month after Bob Iger and Josh Kushner agreed to purchase Mark Walter’s 64% stake in the Lakers at a whopping $12.5 billion valuation, the internal politics seem to have already begun.
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After the Buss family drama put Jeanie Buss’ future as team governor in question, another shocking report claims that Bob Iger’s role in the Lakers deal was initially exaggerated and that Josh Kushner is expected to take over as team governor once the dust settles.
According to Charles Gasparino of the New York Post, Bob Iger is expected to take a smaller role among the consortium of team owners, while Kushner will take over as the team’s ultimate decision-maker, the team governor.
“Media reports of Bob Iger’s future ‘ownership’ of the Los Angeles Lakers appear to have been greatly exaggerated, On The Money has learned,” Gasparino wrote in his report.
“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, a source close to the talks told me,” Gasparino further wrote.
“Bob will not be the controlling 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.”
“There can only be one governor per team, and that will be Josh Kushner. He will be putting up the 15% ownership stake,” another NBA source reportedly told Gasparino.
It should have been evident from the start that if any of these were in the position to take over from Jeanie Buss, it would be Kushner and not Bob Iger, who previously admitted he loves the Lakers’ local rivals, the Clippers.
Moreover, according to Forbes, Bob Iger’s net worth is about $690 million. Meanwhile, Josh Kushner’s is $16.7 billion. To become the team governor, Kushner must own at least a 15% stake in the team, which, based on the $12.5 billion sale, would be worth $1.875 billion.
The team’s current governor, Jeanie Buss, is amid a legal battle to retain team ownership or potentially buy the 15% stake herself. Her siblings wish to sell their family stake in the team, while she wishes to block the sale.
But given that her net worth is approximately $1 billion, she may decide not to pursue sole ownership, as it would require leveraging her entire net worth. In that case, Josh Kushner is expected to step in and use his own money to take up the role instead.
It will certainly be very interesting to see who the team governor for the Lakers will be once the dust settles. It could reshape the direction in which the Lakers are headed in the future.