Jeanie Buss

American business executive, currently the controlling owner and president of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Buss is a daughter of Jerry Buss, a real estate investor who later owned the Lakers and other sports businesses. At age 19, she started in the family business as general manager of the Los Angeles Strings professional tennis team. Buss later became the owner of the Los Angeles Blades professional roller hockey team. She was also president of the Great Western Forum before becoming vice president of the Lakers. After Buss's father died in 2013, his controlling ownership of the Lakers passed to his six children via a family trust, with each sibling receiving an equal vote. Buss took over as team president and represents the Lakers on the NBA Board of Governors. Sporting News in 2005 named Buss as one of the Top 20 Most Influential Women in Sports. In 2011, Forbes called Buss "one of few powerful women in sports management", and ESPN said she is "one of the most powerful women in the NBA". Buss married volleyball player Steve Timmons in 1990, but divorced after three years. She posed nude in the May 1995 issue of Playboy. She was engaged to former Lakers coach and former New York Knicks President Phil Jackson, whom she began dating in December 1999. On 27 December 2016, Jackson released a statement announcing the termination of their engagement. Link to Wikipedia biography