Dr. Jerry Buss was an American entrepreneur, real estate tycoon, chemist, and philanthropist. Most notably, he was the late owner of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team, a National Basketball Association (NBA) team. Dr. Jerry Buss is seen as a historic pioneer of NBA basketball, with a knack for developing an entertaining brand of basketball that skyrocketed the NBA's popularity in the 80s alongside the rivalry between Magic Johnson's Lakers and Larry Bird's Celtics.
Jerry Buss's Net Worth
Jerry Buss's net worth at the time of his passing was an estimated $600 million. This is without taking into account the total value of the Lakers franchise. If we take the Lakers ownership piece into the equation, we would add 66% of the $5.5 billion evaluation to his overall net worth. The Lakers ownership piece was handed down to his children at the time of his death.
This would mean his estimated net worth at the time of his death would be around $3.5 billion, considering the wealth he has grown through his real estate ventures and the overall value of the iconic Lakers franchise.
[ninja_tables id=”6812″]Jerry Buss Early Life and Career
Jerry Buss was born in Salt Lake City and was raised by his divorced mother, Jessie. His father, Lydus, taught statistics at Berkely. At nine, his mother moved their family to Los Angeles. Three years later, when his mom remarried, their family moved again to Kemmerer, Wyoming. Jerry Buss earned a scholarship to the University of Wyoming. He was astute and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in only two and a half years. He then returned to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California, where he earned an M.S and a Ph.D. D in physical chemistry when he was only 24 years old.
Jerry Buss, the Womanizer, Bachelor & Playboy
Notoriously known as a womanizer, Buss was the owner of the Phoneix location of the Playboy club. He was married to JoAnn Mueller until their divorce in 1972 after having four children: Johnny Buss, Jim Buss, Jeanie Buss, and Janie Buss. Buss had two more children with a girlfriend, Karen Demel, named Joey and Jesse. All of his children have a role in the Lakers organization to this day, and each owns a percentage of the team. In 1990, Puppi Buss, a single mother, filed a palimony suit claiming that Jerry fathered her son, but it was settled out of court.
Jerry Buss' Non-Lakers Ownership Ventures
Jerry used his degree to become a chemist for the Bureau of Mines and then worked in the aerospace industry for a time. He then used his degree to begin teaching in USC's chemistry department.
Jerry Buss made his fortune early on in real estate, where he accrued most of his net worth. He initially entered the field to provide a side income that would allow him to continue teaching. Jerry and longtime American businessman Frank Mariani formed the real estate investment company Mariani-Buss Associates. He also produced a movie titled Black Eye, which wasn't the most well-received movie. He also owned the Phoneix location of the Playboy Club.
Lakers Ownership and Purchase
Buss purchased the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and the NHL's Los Angeles Kings for a record $67.5 million from Jack Kent Cooke. This included ownership of The Forum, the world-famous Chrysler Building, and a large ranch. When the WNBA was formed in 1996, Buss began operating the Los Angeles Sparks and later became the owner in 2002 when the league transitioned to individual ownership.
Buss almost didn't have enough money and leveraged most of his real empire to purchase the Lakers.
Buss originally owned the Great Western Forum, the Lakers arena in West Los Angeles, before selling the arena in 1999. The Lakers moved to Staples Center.
Lakers Career
Jerry Buss is the owner of 10 total NBA championships and helped turn the Lakers into the historically recognized franchise it is today. They have had some of the biggest names in NBA history wear the iconic purple and gold, including the NBA's all-time leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the charismatic point guard Magic Johnson, the most dominant player ever, Shaquille O'Neal, and top-10 all-timer Kobe Bryant. He also employed two historically great coaches, Phil Jackson, considered one of the top-3 coaches ever, and Pat Riley.
He inspired the vision of “Showtime,” a style of basketball that was fast, explosive, and, most importantly, exciting. The NBA at the time was not popular, and the Lakers franchise, with the vision of Dr. Buss, helped turn that persona around and created a path for the modern NBA to be one of the most popular sports leagues in the world.
After his passing, NBA commissioner David Stern said, “The NBA lost a visionary owner whose influence on our league is incalculable and will be felt for decades to come.” He was inducted into the basketball hall of fame in 2010.
Winning Time Persona
Dr. Jerry Buss received a lot of attention in popular culture in 2022, as actor John C. Reilly apprised the role of the legendary sport's owner. The HBO mockumentary ‘Winning Time' was a fictional representation of the historic come-up of the Lakers franchise after Jerry Buss purchased the team. Centered around Jerry Buss, Magic Johnson, and the Lakers franchise, the show received a lot of criticism for its portrayal of its real-life counterparts.
Buss was shown as a raunchy playboy, including several references to a photo album that contained nude photographs of all the women he has slept with (which is a true factoid about the man),
Jerry Buss Death
In 2012, Buss was reported to be at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with an undisclosed intestinal problem. Many were worried about his health, and Jerry Buss' significantly diminished his management over the Lakers. He had not attended a Lakers game in the 2012-2013 season because of his health. On February 18th, 2013, Jerry Buss passed due to kidney failure. It was then revealed that Jerry had been battling cancer since 2012. His ownership shares, totaling 66% of the Lakers franchise, were given to each of his children. Jeanie Buss was given the title of Lakers governor and became the team's representative on the NBA board of governors.
Read More: The Richest NBA Owners in 2022
