Dr. Jerry Buss Net Worth: How Did He Make His Money?

By Joseph On Jun 23, 2022

Dr. Jerry Buss was an American businessman and the owner of professional sports franchises. He amassed a net worth of $600 million throughout his lifetime. The majority of Jerry Buss’ wealth came from his ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball franchise. Buss sold the team to Magic Johnson in 1984.

Additionally, he was the previous owner of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, the National Hockey League’s Los Angeles Kings, and the National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Lakers.

Dr. Jerry Buss was known for his extensive influence in the world of professional sports, his incredible achievement as a modern-day owner, and his triumph as a successful businessman who treated everyone with dignity and respect. Dr. Jerry Buss passed away on Monday at the age of 80.

Early Life

Jerry Buss was reared in Kemmerer, Wyoming by his single mother during the worst years of the Great Depression. Buss was born in Salt Lake City but spent his childhood there. When he was a very young child, one of his earliest memories is of waiting in a bread line to receive meals.

Jerry’s dedication to his studies earned him a scholarship to the University of Wyoming, where he completed his degree in two and a half years. Jerry had completed both his master’s degree and doctoral dissertation in chemistry at the University of Southern California by the time he reached 24 years old.

The Los Angeles Lakers

By 1979, Jerry had amassed a fortune sufficient to enable him to buy the Los Angeles Lakers, the Sacramento Kings, and the Forum sports venue. He paid a combined sum of $67.5 million for all three, with only $16 million going toward the purchase of the Los Angeles Lakers. After adjusting for the effects of inflation, that sum is comparable to $213 million today. It was the largest purchase of a sports franchise in the history of sports at the time.

In less than a year, Jerry West led the Los Angeles Lakers to their first of ten NBA titles, which they would go on to win. In 2013, the year he passed away, the Los Angeles Lakers had a value of one billion dollars. They were one of the very first professional teams in the world to reach a valuation of one billion dollars.

It’s hard to believe, but the Los Angeles Lakers are currently one of the most valuable sports clubs in the world, with a value of over $5.5 billion.

Jerry Bus’s Investments

After receiving his degree, he began his career as a chemist and then spent some time working in the aerospace industry before coming back to the University of Southern California to take a position in the chemistry department as a teaching member.

Jerry started making real estate investments in the greater Los Angeles area while he was still employed as a teacher at the University of Southern California (USC). His goal was to generate additional income in addition to his teacher’s salary.

Jerry was able to give up his teaching position entirely since his side business became so wealthy so rapidly. He now focuses all of his time, energy, and attention solely on the real estate industry. In the long run, Jerry Buss would end up becoming a very wealthy guy.

Dr. Jerry Buss Net Worth

At the time of his passing in 2013, Dr. Jerry Buss, an American entrepreneur, and owner of professional sports teams had a net worth of $600 million. He had amassed this fortune before his passing.

The real estate industry was where Jerry Buss made his first significant fortune. After that, he became the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team, which helped him amass a far larger fortune. Additionally, he was the previous owner of the Los Angeles Sparks, Los Angeles Kings, and Los Angeles Lazers.

Personal Life

In addition to his other talents, Buss was a skilled poker player who competed professionally. After a protracted and unsuccessful struggle against cancer, Dr. Jerry Buss passed away on February 18, 2013, at a hospital in Los Angeles. He is survived by six children, all of whom are active members of the Los Angeles Lakers organization.

Jerry’s Wife and Children

The answer to your question about Jerry Buss’s marital status is that he is married. From 1957 until 1972, he was married to a woman whose maiden name was JoAnn Mueller.

During that time, they welcomed four children into the world: Johnny in 1957, Jim in 1959, Jeanie in 1961, and Janie in 1964. Later on, he had two more daughters with a partner; their names were Karen Demel Joey and Jesse, and they were born in 1985 and 1988, respectively.

Frequently Ask Question

What Was Dr. Jerry Buss a Doctor of?

Buss & entertainment. Dr. Buss began his career as a chemist and engineer, and he holds a doctorate in physical chemistry. He currently works as a professor.

Is Dr. Jerry Buss Still Alive?

It was discovered on February 14, 2013, just four days before Buss passed away, that he had been battling cancer since the year 2012. On February 18, 2013, at the age of 80, he passed away as a result of kidney failure. Before that, he had been hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with an unspecified kind of cancer.

How Did He Make His Money?

Most of Jerry Buss’s net worth came from his ownership of the basketball team the Los Angeles Lakers. He also used to own the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA, the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL, and the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA.