Jeanie Buss, the dynamic controlling owner and president of the Los Angeles Lakers, has revolutionized sports management! What drives her success? With a legacy rooted in basketball, she faced numerous challenges head-on. Her journey is a powerful story of resilience and ambition! So come, let’s uncover her early influences, her rise to prominence, and her lasting impact on the Lakers and beyond.

Discover how she inspires future leaders in sports and business. Now, let’s explore who Jeanie Buss and her family are.

Meet Jeanie Buss’ family

Jeanie Marie Buss was born on September 26, 1961, in Santa Monica, California to parents Dr. Jerry Buss and JoAnn Mueller. Do you she was born rich? Yes, her father was a businessman, investor, chemist, and philanthropist, and also the majority owner of the LA Lakers. However, she wasn’t their only child. Buss has three siblings: two older brothers, Johnny and Jim, and a younger sister, Janie. Apart from three of her siblings, she grew up with she discovered her long-lost sister in 2013.

After her father’s passing away, her mother revealed to Buss that they had given up one of their daughter, Lee Klose, for adoption because she was a girl. At first, she refused to believe it, as her mother had Alzheimer’s. “When my dad passed away in 2013, my mom called me, and she was at the beginning of her dementia. She told me the story about when they were first married that they had given up a child for adoption, and she said that they gave away the child because she was a girl,” Buss said in the Lakers documentary Legacy.

However, the Buss family did find Klose after she mailed Jeanie, and she got to see her adoption papers and found out that her parents are Dr. Jerry Buss and JoAnn Mueller. Just before Mueller passed away in 2019, she met Klose and got to know that she lived a happy and peaceful life. “I did get to meet my birth mother and tell her that I love her and that I lived a good and peaceful life, and she never had to worry again. It was love at second glance,” Klose said.

The Buss couple has one more long-lost kid. Yes, in 2018, a person named Lee spent correspondence with Jeanie stating that he was their first child, who they had given up for adoption. However, not much is out of their status, but it is said that Lee and JoAnn with her kids had a meeting. As now we know her family, let’s know who is he husband.

Is Jeanie Buss married? Who is her husband?

Well, that’s a good question. In 1990, Buss married volleyball player Steve Timmons, but after three years, the couple got divorced. Buss describes it as: “I never put my marriage first…It was always business which attracted me.” But she found love for her. In December 1999, she started dating the then-Lakers head coach Phil Jackson. The couple got engaged in 2013 but later called it off in 2016 via a joint statement in X.

Fast forward to 2017, Buss and comedian Jay Mohr started dating and announced their relationship on X in 2021. On December 21, 2022, the couple got engaged, following a wedding on September 3, 2023, in a private ceremony in Malibu. But do you know they have an unorthodox approach to their wedding?

The couple lives in a three-story building where Jeanie lives in their unit and Jay in first. “We don’t really want to change anything because I like my space, and I have my schedule, and he likes his space, and he has his schedule, but I can take the elevator down in my slippers and hang out a little and go back up. I would recommend it to any couple that feels the same way,” she said in an interview with Graham Bensinger. Buss’ personal experiences have profoundly shaped her professional journey in sports. From navigating family dynamics to leading a storied franchise, her resilience has defined her path.

Jeanie Buss: Redefining success

Buss’ childhood was shaped by her parents’ divorce in 1972. This left her feeling emotionally abandoned and seeking stability. At 14, she attended World Team Tennis meetings with her father, Jerry Buss. By 17, she moved into the renowned Pickfair estate with him. Her experiences there fueled her passion for sports management.

Did you know she became the general manager of the Los Angeles Strings at just 19? While studying at USC, she balanced her education and early career. After the Strings folded, she became the owner of the Los Angeles Blades, earning accolades like Executive of the Year! Her leadership extended to serving as president of the Great Western Forum, where she solidified her connection to the Lakers.

Following her father’s death, she faced significant challenges. She took over as president and inherited critical responsibilities. Her decisions reshaped the Lakers’ management, including hiring Magic Johnson as President of Basketball Operations. This marked a turning point in the organization’s direction.

Beyond basketball, Buss’ commitment to empowering women shines through her ownership of WOW—Women of Wrestling. This groundbreaking venture promotes female talent and highlights her dedication to sports entertainment. How has her journey as a leader in both basketball and wrestling influenced her legacy?