Buss Brothers Buy Padres Stake Opposite Walter’s Dodgers

Joey and Jesse Buss have taken a stake in the neighborhood of 5 percent in the San Diego Padres through their new firm Buss Sports Capital, joining the advisory board of the franchise’s new ownership group led by José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones.

The move, confirmed Wednesday in statements to ESPN and other outlets, is the brothers’ first major play since launching the firm after the Buss family sold controlling interest in the Los Angeles Lakers. It also plants them as minority partners in the National League West opposite Mark Walter, owner of the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers and the man who bought and then flipped the Lakers.

Lakers Heirs Take Padres Stake of About 5 Percent

Sources told The Athletic and ESPN the stake sits around 5 percent. Joey and Jesse will sit on the ownership advisory board, bringing experience in player development, payroll management and roster construction.

Feliciano, co-founder of Clearlake Capital, and Jones closed their controlling purchase last week at a record $3.9 billion MLB valuation. The husband-and-wife pair hold more than 40 percent. Other minority partners include longtime Padres investor Alfredo Harp Helú, with some Seidler family members retaining pieces.

We are honored to join Kwanza and José and have the opportunity to contribute to the future of a team that Jesse and I have loved since we were kids growing up in San Diego. Sports have always been a part of our family’s story, and great organizations have a unique ability to bring people together and create a lasting sense of community. Padres fans have built one of the most passionate and loyal communities in all of sports, and we believe there is a tremendous opportunity to deepen that connection in San Diego and around the world. The Padres are on the cusp of something special, and through Buss Sports Capital, we look forward to bringing our experience and perspective to the ownership group and doing our part to build on the strong foundation already in place.

Joey Buss, statement

Jesse Buss added that the brothers spent nearly two decades in Lakers basketball operations after learning from their father, the late Dr. Jerry Buss. “While every sport is different, we believe the principles behind building sustained success are universal,” he said. “Through Buss Sports Capital, we look forward to bringing that experience to the ownership group, supporting Kwanza and José’s vision for the Padres and doing everything we can to help bring a World Series championship to San Diego.”

The Statements That Closed the First Deal

Both brothers grew up in San Diego County. Joey is 41 and Jesse 38. Their firm launched in September 2025 with a mandate for sports acquisitions and partnerships worldwide. CAA Evolution handled early transaction work.

The Padres stake marks the first concrete investment after the brothers left Lakers roles. Both were fired by the organization in November 2025 following the sale of controlling interest to Walter.

On X, Padres fan accounts called the addition electric while some Lakers supporters mocked the brothers’ prior front-office record and tied the news to the ongoing family dispute. One San Diego voice joked that if Feliciano and Jones falter, the Busses could end up buying more of the club.

Five Siblings Voted Yes on the Lakers Exit

The Padres news landed one week after five of the six Buss siblings voted to sell the family’s remaining 17.8 percent Lakers stake to the group led by Josh Kushner and Bob Iger. That deal values the Lakers at $12.5 billion.

1. June 2025: Buss family agrees to sell controlling Lakers stake to Mark Walter at $10 billion valuation; Jeanie Buss stays as governor under terms calling for at least five more years.
2. October 2025: Walter deal closes; siblings each net roughly half a billion after taxes from the controlling sale.
3. November 2025: Joey and Jesse Buss dismissed from Lakers basketball operations roles.
4. August 12, 2026: Walter agrees to sell his Lakers controlling stake to Kushner and Iger at $12.5 billion.
5. August 17, 2026: At least five Buss siblings vote to tag along and sell the remaining 17.8 percent; Jeanie Buss contests via attorney Adam Streisand, citing a 2017 court order on her controlling role and the 15 percent governor minimum.
6. August 26, 2026: Joey and Jesse confirm Padres minority stake and advisory seats.

Jeanie Buss remains acting governor and has filed to block the minority sale, arguing co-trustees must preserve her control. The other siblings, including Joey and Jesse, maintain they hold authority to sell. NBA rules require governors to own at least 15 percent.

Walter’s Lakers flip produced a $2.5 billion paper gain in roughly 14 months. He still controls the Dodgers, back-to-back World Series winners entering 2026, and holds a minority Chelsea stake alongside Clearlake interests.

How a $3.9 Billion Record Sale Came Together

MLB owners unanimously approved the new ownership group on August 17. Commissioner Rob Manfred welcomed Feliciano as control person and Jones, praising their understanding of the Padres’ place in San Diego.

The $3.9 billion price smashed the prior MLB record of $2.42 billion paid by Steve Cohen for the Mets in 2020. Three bids reached at least $3.5 billion. Finalists included Dan Friedkin, Joe Lacob and Tom Gores. The Seidler family had put the club in play in November 2025 after Peter Seidler’s death.

Sportico reported the Padres generated gross revenues of $530 million in 2025 with $20 million EBITDA. Net revenue after sharing ranked 11th league-wide at an estimated $483 million. Attendance hit 3.4 million, second in MLB, and has sat top-five every year since 2021. Season tickets cap above 25,000 and have sold out four straight years.

Petco Park hosts more than 150 non-MLB events annually. Ticket prices rose over 50 percent since 2022 yet demand held. The club is on track for a fifth straight winning season, a franchise first.

• Attendance: 3.4 million in 2025, MLB No. 2
• Season tickets: Cap over 25,000, four straight sellouts
• Revenues: $530 million gross, strong mid-market ranking
• Non-baseball events: 150-plus at Petco Park yearly

Feliciano and Jones fund their stake from personal wealth. MLB caps private-equity ownership at 30 percent; Clearlake’s broader fund structure sits separate. Feliciano co-owns Chelsea via Clearlake’s majority stake and previously bid on the Broncos and explored a Chargers piece.

Sitting Across From Walter in the NL West

The Dodgers sit first in the NL West. The Padres are second. Walter owns the Dodgers. The Buss brothers now hold a piece of the Padres. The geography and the calendar make the overlap hard to miss.

Joey Buss framed the investment as hometown loyalty rather than rivalry chess. The brothers grew up Padres fans. Their father once eyed the same franchise. In October 1989, after Joan Kroc put the club up for sale, Jerry Buss said he was in the market for a baseball team and planned to throw his hat in the ring. He owned a house in Encinitas and had already written Kroc that summer. The deal never happened.

Thirty-seven years later his youngest sons closed a different circle. Walter, who paid $2.15 billion for the Dodgers in 2012 with partners including Todd Boehly, remains a multi-club player. Clearlake and Walter still share Chelsea ownership as of recent reports, with talks of further reshuffling. The Buss Padres seat therefore sits inside a denser web of PE-sports capital than a simple NL West scoreboard suggests.

On the ground in San Diego the reaction mixed hometown pride with curiosity about how NBA-style ops thinking travels to baseball payrolls and development pipelines. Minority investors do not set the roster. AJ Preller stays as president of baseball operations and Erik Greupner as CEO.

Buss Sports Capital Still Chasing NBA Europe Franchises

The Padres deal is the first closed investment, yet the firm has been active. Sources told The Athletic in July that Buss Sports Capital submitted bids for NBA Europe franchises in London, Manchester and Lyon. A possible Rome path involving Luka Dončić and Donnie Nelson also surfaced. NBA Europe targets an October 2027 launch; commissioner Adam Silver said decisions on bids were expected in coming weeks as of midsummer.

Joey Buss described the firm at launch as focused on strategic sports investments that do not compete with remaining Lakers interests. Jesse spoke of a 50-year horizon that could pass to their children, echoing their father’s approach.

Capital for the Padres stake comes from the Lakers windfall. Exact dollars for the 5 percent piece have not been disclosed; at the $3.9 billion club valuation the math points to roughly $195 million before any preferred terms or adjustments.

What Two Decades of Lakers Ops Bring to Petco Park

Joey served as Lakers alternate governor and vice president of research and development. Jesse was assistant general manager and director of scouting. Both worked inside the salary-cap system, long-term roster planning and player development that produced multiple contenders and title windows under the family.

That toolkit is what the advisory board role is meant to supply. Padres ownership already fields a competitive big-market payroll and a high-attendance product. The brothers say the universal principles of talent evaluation and organizational planning transfer. Whether baseball’s different free-agency rules, service-time incentives and international signing systems absorb the advice will play out over seasons, not press releases.

The family fracture continues in Los Angeles court filings even as the San Diego chapter opens. Five siblings chose liquidity and new projects. Jeanie Buss chose to fight for the governor’s chair and the last slice of the franchise her father built. The Padres stake gives Joey and Jesse a fresh scoreboard in the same Southern California sports market where that fight is unfolding.

For now the numbers are fixed: about 5 percent of a $3.9 billion club, advisory seats, San Diego roots, and a direct line of sight to the Dodgers across the NL West standings.