Lakers Ownership Shuffle: Soon-Shiong Keeps 4% Stake Amid Iger-Kushner Deal
The Lakers have changed hands twice in 10 months, but one minority owner isn't budging on his 4% slice — here's why fantasy managers can ignore the noise.
Boardroom drama doesn't touch the box score — play your Lakers as usual.
- Soon-Shiong keeps his minority Lakers stake
- Buss family sold to Walter for $10B in Oct 2025
- Walter then flipped the team to Iger and Kushner
- Buss family retains a 17.8% stake
- NBA governors must hold at least 15%
Amid one of the wildest ownership carousels in recent NBA memory, Lakers minority stakeholder Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong has made his position clear: he's staying put. Through the Soon-Shiong family attorney, the 74-year-old surgeon and businessman confirmed Thursday that he has no intention of selling his minority share, even as the franchise prepares to change hands for the second time in roughly 10 months.
The backdrop here is staggering. The Buss family sold the Lakers to Mark Walter in October 2025 in a deal valued at $10 billion, only for Walter to turn around and sell to former Disney CEO Bob Iger and venture capitalist Josh Kushner. That transaction still needs approval from the NBA Board of Governors before it's official.
Soon-Shiong isn't a new face in the mix. He bought his stake back in 2010 from Lakers legend Magic Johnson, and he's better known outside basketball as the inventor of the cancer drug Abraxane and the owner of the Los Angeles Times. According to his camp, Iger and Kushner are longtime friends, and he plans to stick around as an active, engaged partner once the deal closes.
The one genuine loose thread is the Buss family itself. The clan retains a 17.8% stake, but the family is split — five siblings voted to sell while Jeanie Buss, the current governor, is contesting the deal. That matters procedurally: NBA rules require a governor to hold at least a 15% stake, so the fight over who controls that remaining slice isn't just a family squabble, it's a governance question.
The Fantasy Fallout
Here's the part that actually matters for your roster: none of it. Front-office and ownership reshuffles almost never move a player's on-court role or usage mid-stream, and this one comes with zero personnel implications. Nobody's minutes, touches or rotation spot is tied to whose name is on the deed.
So treat your Lakers exactly as you did yesterday. LeBron, Luka and the rest keep whatever roles the coaching staff hands them, and the only thing this saga should change is your dinner-party trivia. HOLD, ignore the headlines, and let the box scores — not the boardroom — dictate your lineup calls.
