Joey, Jesse Buss Join New Padres Ownership Group Amid Attempted Sale of Lakers Stake

Longtime Los Angeles Lakers executives Joey and Jesse Buss are purchasing a stake in the San Diego Padres.

The Buss brothers are joining a Padres ownership group led by Kwanza Jones and José E. Feliciano, they announced Wednesday (h/t ESPN's Dave McMenamin).

The investment is being made by Buss Sports Capital, a sports investment firm launched by the Buss brothers in September 2025.

The Padres sale was recently approved by MLB at a record valuation of $3.9 billion.

The news comes after ESPN's Shams Charania reported Aug. 17 the Buss family trust had decided to sell their minority stake in the Lakers after a majority vote.

The Athletic's Dennis Lin initially reported in July that Joey and Jesse Buss were interested in minority ownership of the Padres.

The brothers were fired from their previous front office positions with the Lakers early in the 2025-26 season, they told Charania last November.

Their previous roles included work in the scouting department tied with bringing in players including Austin Reaves, according to Charania.

The Lakers are in the midst of a pending sale to an ownership group led by Josh Kushner and Bob Iger at a record valuation of $12.5 billion, which was reported earlier this month by ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

The move, which has yet to be officially approved by the NBA, came less than two years after the Buss family sold their majority stake in the franchise to Mark Walter at a franchise valuation of $10 billion.

The Buss family retained a 17.8 percent stake in the Lakers after the second sale, per Charania.

The Athletic's Sam Amick reported Jeanie Buss, who served as team governor after the franchise's sale to Walter, has opposed the vote to sell her family's stake in the team.

Iger told the California Post's Khobi Price before the Buss family voted to sell the minority stake he had "every intention to honor the agreement" retaining Jeanie as the Lakers' team governor, although he added "if things change, they'll change."

MLB owners unanimously approved the sale of the Padres to Jones and Feliciano from the Seidler family.

The Seidler family was part of the ownership group that purchased the Padres at an $800 million valuation in 2012. John Seidler had taken over as chairman in 2025 after his brother, former owner Peter Seidler, died in 2023.

The Padres are in the running for an NL Wild Card spot. A trip to the postseason would mark the first time in franchise history the Padres have made three consecutive playoff runs.