Jerry Buss

Jerry Buss

Gerald Hatten Buss was an American businessman, investor, chemist, and philanthropist. He was the majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association. Buss is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor. He also owned other professional sports franchises in Southern California.

About Jerry Buss in brief

Summary Jerry BussGerald Hatten Buss was an American businessman, investor, chemist, and philanthropist. He was the majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association. Buss is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor. He also owned other professional sports franchises in Southern California. In January 2008, Buss donated USD 7 million to fund two endowed chairs and an endowed scholarship fund for USC’s chemistry graduate students. His contributions to basketball were recognized by his induction into the BasketballHall of Fame in 2010. He received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Academy of Achievement in 1983. In life, he was a high-stakes cash game poker player for many years, but later in life he was more active in poker tournament games.

His best finishes included third in the 1991 World Series of Poker seven-card stud event and second place in the 2003 World Poker Tour invitational invitational series Poker After Dark. His philanthropy extended to people associated with the NBC Board of Councilors and NBC Nightly News series Stakes High Stakes Poker. He died of a heart attack at the age of 83 in Los Angeles, California. He is survived by his wife, Mary Pickford, and two daughters, Lisa Leslie and Lisa Buss, and his son-in-law, Mark Buss. He had a son, Michael, with whom he had a daughter, Jennifer Buss-Buss, who is also a successful real estate investor. He has a grandson, Michael Buss Jr., who is a well-known businessman and investor in the real estate industry. He lived in Beverly Hills, California, with his wife and three children.