According to Heisman Pundit, Jerry Buss and Wayne Hughes, Publuc Storage Owner, paid for Kiffin and his staff's buyout to return to SUC.

The title "USC Commits Suicide" I'll start going to church again if that becomes reality.

"Had the announcement been concurrent with a move to hire more NCAA compliance people–USC has just four on staff to oversee 19 sports (compared with its eight equipment guys and five video staffers, for example)–then maybe we could acknowledge a serious move on its part to instill some discipline in a department that has been under the pall of investigation for the latter half of this decade.

But that didn’t happen. USC did, however, move some other major mountains to get this thing done. Los Angeles Lakers owner and Trojan alum Jerry Buss stepped to the plate and paid for the Kiffin buy out from Tennessee. Public Storage owner Wayne Hughes provided much of the cash for the incredible staff that is coming with Kiffin to Los Angeles. They should’ve kept their money and demanded that USC do the right thing. Instead, they might have helped sew the seeds of their team’s demise."