The Lakers have been owned by the Buss family since 1979, when the late Jerry Buss bought the team. Jeanie is currently the team’s controlling owner and president.
How Did The Buss Family Get Rich?
In 1959, Jeff Buss used money saved from his first job after graduating from USC to buy a 14-unit rental property in West Los Angeles for a $6,000 down payment and a $100,000 bank loan.
Buss transformed this $6,000 down purchase into a $350 million real estate empire eighteen years later.
From the beginning, Buss had a vision: to turn going to a basketball game into an all-out entertainment event.
As a result, the term “sports entertainment” was coined.
What Does The Buss Family Own?
Buss introduced entertainment elements to his newly-purchased Great Western Forum that no other sports owner had considered.
He introduced cheerleaders (the now-famous Laker girls), added music and fanfare during commercial breaks, introduced a house band to play live music (which still exists and performs at STAPLES Center during player warm-ups) and provided a complete entertainment experience to anyone with a ticket to the game.
