Jerry Buss Net Worth, Money and More
Net Worth: $600 Million
Profession: American Businessman, Real Estate Investor and Chemist
Introduction:
Gerald Hatten Jerry Buss better known as Jerry Buss was born on January 27, 1933 in America and died on February 18, 2013. He was born in Salt Lake City where he was raised by his divorced mother, Jessie. At the age of 9 years Buss had to move Los Angeles with his mother. After which again they shifted to Kemmerer, Wyoming after Buss mother got remarried. Buss earned a scholarship and attended University of Wyoming and graduated with a B.S degree in 1953. After which he returned back to Los Angeles and attended the University of Southern California, where he earned the M.S and Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry in 1957 at age of 24.
Family:
Buss’ was married to the former Joann Mueller and both ended in divorce in the year 1972 after having four children: Johnny (born in 1957), Jim (born in 1960), Jeanie (born in 1961) and Janie (born in 1964). Buss later had two more children with a girlfriend, Karen Demel: Joey (born in 1985) and Jesse (born in 1988). At his death, all six of his children worked in the Lakers organization.
Career:
After getting educated and earning many degrees from the universities, Buss started his career as a chemist for the Bureau of Mines. He also worked for some time for aerospace industry and simultaneously working as a faculty in University of Southern California’s chemistry department.
After this he started investing in real estate. His 1st investment was in 1960s around $1000 for a West Los Angeles building. After seeing the success of his 1st investment he decided to pursue real estate investing in full time.
In 1974 Jerry also produced a movie named Black Eye starring former gridiron star Fred “the Hammer” Williamson.
Affairs and controversies:
During Buss time as Lakers owner, he was widely known as a playboy and had a string of young girlfriends. In 1990, he reached a settlement out of court in a palimony suit filed by Puppi Buss, who said that she had an on-and-off relationship with Buss for 15 years, and also alleged that he fathered her son but the details of the settlement were not revealed.
On May 29, 2007, Buss was issued a citation for driving under the influence after two California Highway Patrol officers saw him driving his gold Mercedes-Benz on the wrong side of the road in the coastal community of Carlsbad in northern San Diego Country. It was seen that he was not alone but with a 23-year-old woman passenger. After failing a field sobriety test, Buss was taken into custody, given a blood test and booked on suspicion of driving while intoxicated with a blood-alcohol level over 0.08.
Buss recent dated girlfriend was Delia Cortez. He liked her so much that he left her in his will an apartment in Hawaii and a car that’s worth six figures.
Earnings and Financial Details:
Buss was the majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, which is a professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association and has nearly won about 10 league Championships. The net worth was around $380 Million which added to Jerry Buss net worth. Buss also owned other professional sports franchises in Southern California.
Jerry Buss annual income was around $150 Million (USD) when he was the CEO. Buss other source of income were through Business news and CEO’s interviews. He earned all this money by investing in real estate, launched Prime Ticket Network which is now Fox Sports West and Fox Sports West 2. Jerry Buss has invested nearly $68 Million to buy Los Angeles Lakers, as well as the NHL’s LA Kings and the Los Angeles Forum. Over these 30 years his investments have made a great profit and have added a large sum of income to his net worth.
Jerry Buss also earned a huge sum of money through the cash game Poker Player, which he played for many years. He was a finalist in the World Poker Tour’s Invitational Tournament in 2003 at second place.
In 1979 Jerry purchased Pickfair Mansion in Beverly Hills from the estate. He was also was the co-owner of a real estate investment company called Mariani-Buss Associates with his long-time business partner Frank Mariani. All this investments of Buss has resulted in a great profit which has added a value to his income.
Buss also has many investments in houses and other property. Jerry Buss’ Playa del Rey mansion is about $5.95 million in the market which is an Italian style villa.
At the time of Buss death, it is estimated that his net worth has surpassed 1 billion dollars.
Luxurious Life:
The late Los Angeles Lakers owner had the Italian-style villa custom built in 1998. It is a hilltop estate featured with slam-dunk views of the ocean, marina and cityscape. Buss had many mansions and cars which made his life very much comfortable and luxurious.
Death:
Buss was hospitalized for months in 2012 for an undisclosed intestinal problem. Because of health issues he was not able to attend the Lakers game during the 2012-13 season. On February 14, 2013, it was revealed that Buss had been battling cancer since 2012.
He was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre for cancer related health issues, but he died due to kidney failure at 5:55 a.m. on February 18, 2013, aged 80. On February 21st, 2013 many of his friends, colleagues, and family members gathered to pay tribute to Buss in a televised memorial service at the Nokia Theatre Los Angeles. Buss was buried on February 22 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) in a private ceremony with family and close friends.
