Jerry Buss | |
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 Buss at the2009 World Series of Poker | |
| Born | Gerald Hatten Buss (1933-01-27)January 27, 1933 Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. |
| Died | February 18, 2013(2013-02-18) (aged 80) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California |
| Alma mater | University of Wyoming(BS) University of Southern California(MS,PhD) |
| Occupations |
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| Known for | Owner of theLos Angeles Lakers andLos Angeles Sparks |
| Spouse | |
| Partner(s) | Veronica Hoff (1972–1980) Karen Demel |
| Children | 7, including |
| Awards |
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Gerald Hatten Buss (January 27, 1933 – February 18, 2013) was an American businessman,investor, chemist, and philanthropist. He was the majority owner of theLos Angeles Lakers of theNational Basketball Association (NBA), winning 10league championships that were highlighted by the team'sShowtime era during the 1980s. He was inducted into theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor. Buss owned other professional sports franchises in Southern California.
Born inSalt Lake City, Buss and his three younger siblings were raised by their divorced mother, Jessie, who worked as a waitress. His father, Lydus, was an accountant who went on to teach statistics at Berkeley, who abandoned Buss after his first birthday and never returned.[1] When he was nine years old, Buss moved with his mother toLos Angeles; three years later when she remarried, they then moved toKemmerer, Wyoming and lived in a six-room home with his half-brother Mickey, his half-sister Susan, and stepbrother Jim.[2] One of Buss' boyhood jobs was working for his stepfather, Cecil Brown, who owned a plumbing business. Other jobs in Buss' high school days included carrying bags at theKemmerer Hotel (paid $2 per day (~$24.08 as of 2025), setting pins at the bowling alley, working on theUnion Pacific Railroad, selling stamps, and shining shoes.[3]
Buss earned a scholarship to theUniversity of Wyoming,[4] graduating with aBS degree in two and a half years in 1953. He then returned to Los Angeles and attended theUniversity of Southern California (USC), where he earned anMS andPhD inphysical chemistry in 1957 at the age of 24.[5] Upon completion of his PhD, Buss moved to Boston and worked forArthur D. Little. Buss started as a chemist for theBureau of Mines (now the Mine Safety and Health Administration);[6] he then briefly worked in theaerospace industry forMcDonnell Douglas and was on the faculty of USC's chemistry department.
Buss originally invested in real estate to provide supplementary income so he could continue teaching. His first investment was $1,000 in a 14-unitWest Los Angeles apartment building in 1959.[7] Finding great success in the real estate business, he, along with longtime business partner, Frank Mariani, formed real estate investment company Mariani-Buss Associates.[8] In 1979, Buss purchasedPickfair, the Beverly Hills estate once owned byMary Pickford andDouglas Fairbanks;[5] he sold it in 1987.[9] Buss claimed his company owned—across Arizona, California and Nevada—roughly 700 properties by 1979.
In 1974, Buss produced a movie namedBlack Eye starring former gridiron starFred "the Hammer" Williamson.
Buss was an owner of thePhoenix location of thePlayboy Club.
Buss became an owner of theLos Angeles Strings inWorld Team Tennis.[when?] On May 29, 1979, he purchased theLos Angeles Lakers of theNBA, theLos Angeles Kings of theNHL,The Forum, and a 13,000-acre ranch in theSierra Nevada fromJack Kent Cooke for $67.5 million (equivalent to $290 million in 2024).[10][11][12] Buss later sold his controlling interest in the Kings toBruce McNall in 1988. He then reached a major advertising agreement withGreat Western Bank for thenaming rights to The Forum, resulting in the official name of the building being changed to theGreat Western Forum.
Later, when theWNBA was formed in 1996, Buss took charge of operating that league's Los Angeles franchise, theLos Angeles Sparks. Eventually, all three teams moved into a more modern arena in downtown Los Angeles, theStaples Center, which opened in 1999. As part of the deal to move the Lakers into Staples Center, Buss sold the Great Western Forum (which was later reverted to its original name).
The Lakers were very successful under Buss' ownership, winning 10 NBA championships with such players asKareem Abdul-Jabbar,Magic Johnson,James Worthy,Shaquille O'Neal,Kobe Bryant, andPau Gasol, and with coachesPaul Westhead,Pat Riley andPhil Jackson. He inspired the Lakers'Showtime era with his vision that basketball games must be entertaining.[13] The Sparks also experienced their share of success, winning two WNBA championships with such players asLisa Leslie,Tamecka Dixon andDeLisha Milton-Jones.
In 2002, when the WNBA was restructured to give its teams individual owners, Buss took ownership of the Sparks. He sold the team in 2006. Buss also owned theLos Angeles Lazers of theMajor Indoor Soccer League. The Lazers also played in The Forum. The team folded in 1989 and the league folded three years later.
His contributions to basketball were recognized by his induction into theBasketball Hall of Fame in 2010.[14] Buss received the Golden Plate Award from theAmerican Academy of Achievement in 1983.[15]
Buss was a high-stakes cash gamepoker player for many years, but later in life was more active in tournament games. His best finishes included third in the1991 World Series of Poker seven-card stud event and second place in the 2003World Poker Tour Freeroll invitational. He also appeared in theGSN seriesHigh Stakes Poker and theNBC late-night seriesPoker After Dark.[16]
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Beginning in the early 1980s, Jerry Buss was notoriously seen in and around Los Angeles at charitable events with his ever-present entourage of close friends who were infamously dubbed in the press as "The Seven Dwarfs". Jerry's inner circle entourage included John Rockwell, Ron and David Wilder, Miguel A. Nunez, Lance Davis, Mark Fulton, and Brian J. Sadler. This close-knit group of friends would often bid on charitable auction items that would help the causes of the events they attended. The Dwarfs were gifted championship rings when the Lakers won titles and were granted carte blanche access to all Laker home games and events at the Fabulous Forum / Great Western Forum / Staples Center. Professionally, The Dwarfs were outstanding contributors who held positions as special assistant, financial advisor, investment banker, ADPAC marketing executive. The Dwarfs were regular fixtures in and among the Showtime Lakers throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and until Jerry's death in 2013.
Buss began collecting coins when he was 10 in Los Angeles. During his life, he acquired three rare US coins: a1913 Liberty Head nickel, an1894-S Barber dime, and an1804 dollar. He sold his collection at auction in 1985.[17]
In January 2008, Buss donated $7.5 million to USC's Department of Chemistry to fund two endowed chairs and an endowed scholarship fund for chemistry graduate students; the two chairs were to be named after his mentors at USC, Professors Sidney Benson and David Dows. Buss was an inaugural member of the USC College Board of Councilors.[5]
His philanthropy also extended to people associated with the Lakers. When former Lakers playerWalt Hazzard, then an adviser to the team, suffered a catastrophic stroke in 1996, Buss kept Hazzard on the payroll and told Hazzard's son that his father would remain a Lakers employee for as long as Buss owned the team. When Hazzard died in 2011, he was still a Lakers employee.[2]
Buss has seven known children. His marriage to the former JoAnn Mueller ended in divorce in 1972 after having five children: Lee (born 1953[18]),Johnny (born 1956),Jim (born 1959),Jeanie (born 1961) and Janie (born 1963).[4][19][20] Their oldest child, Lee, was put up for adoption shortly after birth.[20] Buss allegedly married his second wife, Veronica Hoff,[21] in 1972 while still married to his first wife, JoAnn. During his time as Lakers owner, Buss was widely known as aplayboy and had a string of young girlfriends.[22] Buss dated Debbie Zafrani, a Playboy bunny and the younger sister of the wife of Lakers playerKurt Rambis.
Buss had two more children with a girlfriend, Karen Demel: Joey (born 1985) and Jesse (born 1988). At the time of his death in 2013, six out of seven of his children worked in the Lakers organization.[2]
In 1990, Buss reached asettlement out of court in apalimony suit filed by Puppi Buss, who said that she had an on-and-off relationship with Buss for 15 years, and also alleged that he fathered her son;[23][24] details of the settlement were not revealed.[23]
On May 29, 2007, Buss was issued a citation fordriving under the influence after twoCalifornia Highway Patrol officers saw him driving his goldMercedes-Benz on the wrong side of the road in the coastal community ofCarlsbad in northernSan Diego County, with a 23-year-old woman passenger. After failing a field sobriety test, Buss was taken into custody, given a blood test, and booked on suspicion of driving while intoxicated with a blood-alcohol level over 0.08.[25]
In 2012, Buss was in a hospital for months with an undisclosed intestinal problem.[26] Through his 80th birthday on January 27, 2013, he had not attended a Lakers game during the2012–13 season due to health concerns.[27] On February 14, 2013, four days before his death, it was revealed that Buss had had cancer since 2012.[28]
After being hospitalized atCedars-Sinai Medical Center with an undisclosed form of cancer, he died of kidney failure on February 18, 2013, aged 80.[29][30] On February 21, hundreds of friends, colleagues, and family members gathered to pay tribute to Buss in a televised memorial service at theNokia Theatre L.A. Live, across from the Lakers' home court,Staples Center.[31] Buss was buried on February 22 atForest Lawn Memorial Park inHollywood Hills in a private ceremony with family and close friends.[32]
NBA commissionerDavid Stern said of Buss "The NBA has lost a visionary owner whose influence on our league is incalculable and will be felt for decades to come".[33] Lakers guardKobe Bryant said "His impact is felt worldwide," and called Buss "the greatest owner in sports ever".[34]
Buss's 66% controlling ownership of the Lakers passed to his six children via a trust, with each child receiving an equal vote (11% for each child).[35][36] His succession plan had daughterJeanie assume his previous title as the Lakers' governor as well as its team representative at NBA Board of Governors meetings.[35][37]
The2013 World Series of Poker paid tribute to Buss before the $2,500 Seven Card Stud event.[38][39]
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