Joey Buss and Jesse Buss have joined the new ownership group of the San Diego Padres baseball club. The group is led by José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones. The brothers' participation in this group had been previously reported, but they officially confirmed it in a statement to ESPN, as reported by infohub.kz.
Joey and Jesse Buss, who grew up in San Diego County, are former executives of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers. Their family sold its majority stake in the club to Mark Walter last year. Walter is also the owner of the back-to-back World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, the Padres' longtime archrivals.
The investor group led by Feliciano and Jones is preparing to complete the purchase of the Padres this month. The deal is valued at $3.9 billion, a record for MLB.
The Buss brothers formed Buss Sports Capital last year to manage the proceeds from the Lakers sale. It is worth noting that Walter sold the Lakers this month to a group led by Josh Kushner and Bob Iger.
One week before confirming their new venture with the Padres, five of the six Buss heirs voted to sell their 17.8% stake in the Lakers to Kushner and Iger. Jeanie Buss, who has been running the club since the death of Jerry Buss, who bought the Lakers in 1979, is contesting the remaining heirs' desire to sell their interest.