Gerald Hatten Buss was an American businessman, inventor, scientist, and philanthropist who lived from January 27, 1933, until February 18, 2013. He was a major shareholder in the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Los Angeles Lakers.
He led to 10 league titles, the best of which came during the team’s Showtime era in the 1980s. He was a contributor and a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In Southern California, Buss was the owner of additional professional sports franchises.
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At the time of the Lakers sale, Buss’s net worth was believed to be $50 million, and his business owned real estate assets worth a combined $500 million. In the drama, Buss gave Cooke the deed to his homes in order to pay for half of the Lakers’ acquisition.
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Childhood and Professional Career
Buss, a Salt Lake City native, was brought up by his estranged mother, Jessie. Lydus, his father, was an accountant who later became a statistics professor at Berkeley.
When he was nine years old, he relocated to Los Angeles with his mother; three years later, when she remarried, they relocated to Kemmerer, Wyoming. Buss attended the University of Wyoming on a scholarship and got a B.S. in 1953 after two and a half years of study.
After that, he went back to Los Angeles and enrolled in the University of Southern California (USC), where, at the age of 24, he graduated with an M.S. and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 1957.
Buss began his career as a chemist with the Bureau of Mines. He later had a brief stint in the aerospace sector and taught in the chemistry department at USC. Buss’ initial goal was to make real estate investments in order to generate money that would allow him to keep teaching.
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In the 1960s, he made his first investment of $1,000 in a West Los Angeles apartment complex. He and his longstanding business partner Frank Mariani founded the real estate investment firm Mariani-Buss Associates after seeing considerable success in the real estate industry. 
Buss bought Pickfair, the Beverly Hills home that Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks formerly owned, in 1979; he later sold it in 1987.
Poker Player
For many years, Buss played high-stakes cash games of poker; however, later in life, he focused more on tournament play.
His best results were second in the 2003 World Poker Tour Freeroll Invitational and third in the 1991 World Series of Poker seven-card stud tournament. Additionally, he made an appearance in the NBC late-night series Poker After Dark and the GSN series High Stakes Poker.
Death
Buss spent months in the hospital in 2012 due to an undiagnosed intestinal condition. He had been unable to attend a Lakers game during the 2012–13 season owing to health issues until his 80th birthday on January 27, 2013.
Buss had been battling cancer since 2012, it was revealed on February 14, 2013, four days before he passed away. He was 80 years old when he passed away from kidney failure on February 18, 2013, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after being admitted there with an unidentified type of cancer.
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Hundreds of Buss’ friends, coworkers, and family members gathered on February 21 for a memorial service that was broadcast on television at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live, which is located next to the Staples Center, home of the Los Angeles Lakers. Buss was laid to rest on February 22 in a private ceremony at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).
“The NBA has lost a visionary owner whose influence on our league is incalculable and will be felt for decades to come,” NBA commissioner David Stern said of Buss.
Kobe Bryant, a guard for the Lakers, referred to Buss as “the greatest owner in sports ever” and stated that “His impact is felt worldwide.” At the height of the Great Depression, Jerry Buss was born in Salt Lake City and was reared by a single mother in Kemmerer, Wyoming. 
He recalls being a very small child and standing in a bread line for sustenance. Jerry was able to attend the University of Wyoming on a scholarship because of his dedication and graduated in just 2.5 years. Jerry had earned his MS and Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Southern California by the time he reached 24.
Real Estate Investments
Following graduation, he worked as a chemist and for a short time in the aerospace sector before returning to USC to teach in the department of chemistry. Jerry started investing in properties in the Los Angeles area when he was a teacher at USC to supplement his income.
Jerry soon made enough money from his side company to completely stop teaching and devote himself to real estate. Jerry Buss would eventually amass a huge fortune.
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The Lakers
Jerry had enough money saved up by 1979 to buy the Lakers, the Kings, and the Forum sports complex. He paid $67.5 million for all three, of which just $16 million went to The Lakers. That is equivalent to $213 million in today’s dollars, adjusted for inflation.
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It was the largest sports franchise purchase in history at the time. The Lakers won their first of eleven NBA titles under Jerry’s direction inside a year. The Lakers were worth $1 billion at the time of his passing in 2013.
They were among the first teams in the field of professional sports to reach a billion-dollar valuation. Amazingly, The Lakers are currently one of the most expensive sports clubs in the world, with a value of almost $5.5 billion.
Personal Life
Buss was a skilled poker player who participated in tournaments. After a protracted fight with cancer, Dr. Jerry Buss passed away on February 18, 2013, in a hospital in Los Angeles. Six of his children, all of whom are actively involved in The Lakers organization, remain. 
Jerry Buss Net Worth
At the time of his passing in 2013, Dr. Jerry Buss, an American businessman, and owner of a professional sports franchise had a net worth of $600 million. Real estate was where Jerry Buss made his initial wealth.
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As the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team, he later amassed a significantly larger fortune (and celebrity). Additionally, he had previously had ownership positions with the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), Los Angeles Lazers, and the Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA).
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