Jerry Buss

A former aerospace engineer and real-estate developer, Buss has been a prominent name in American sports since he bought the Lakers, the NHL's Los Angeles Kings and the Forum from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979. Buss immediately transformed the Lakers into the NBA's most glamorous franchise, winning 10 NBA championships under his watch. When he graduated from the University of Wyoming, Buss earned a doctorate in physical chemistry at the University of Southern California (USC) and taught there in the late '50s. He launched his career in real estate with $1,000 in 1959 - a venture that proved lucrative. In addition to his daughter Jeanie and his son Jim, survivors include another son, Johnny, and another daughter, Janie Drexel, all from his marriage to the former JoAnn Mueller, which ended in divorce in 1972; his sons Joey and Jesse from a former girlfriend, Karen Demel; a half-sister, Susan Hall; a half-brother, Mickey Brown; a stepbrother, Jim Brown; and eight grandchildren.