In January 2015, Benson announced he no longer wanted his daughter and her children to inherit shares of his pro clubs, and that he intended to replace those shares in the trust with other assets. Benson also stated at that time that he intended to leave the NFL and NBA teams fully in the hands of his third wife, Gayle, whom he married in 2004.
The trustees — Robert Rosenthal and later Mary Rowe — who are required by law to protect the interests of the trust beneficiaries, had said they did not believe Tom Benson had properly demonstrated he was offering a fair swap of assets. Tom Benson then sued in federal court in an attempt to compel the trustees to approve the swap.
Perhaps the most contentious of the lawsuits took place in civil court in Louisiana. In that case,Nike Schuhe G??nstig Kaufen Schweiz, the estranged heirs asked a judge to rule Tom Benson mentally incompetent. The lawsuit centered on allegations that Gayle Benson and an inner circle of Saints and Pelicans executives have manipulated an enfeebled Tom Benson into ostracizing his daughter and grandchildren, who have long been the heirs apparent to the a more-than $2 billion business empire that includes the two pro teams, auto dealerships, a television station and real estate.
The federal lawsuit settled Friday involved the initial rejection by trustees of Tom Benson's proposed asset swap,Adidas Stan Smith Wholesale. Benson sought to substitute more than $500 million in mostly promissory notes — some of which would not have come due for more than two decades — in place of non-voting shares in his two pro teams and other businesses interests.
Benson fired his daughter and her children from executive positions with the clubs. Three lawsuits followed in state courts in Texas and Louisiana, and in U.S. District Court in New Orleans. The Texas case was settled in January 2016.
The Saints and Pelicans have politically sensitive leases to play in state-owned stadiums, allowing the clubs to pay negligible rent while keeping virtually all revenues they generate through tickets, concessions, parking,Fjallraven Kanken Italia, sponsorships and naming rights. As a related inducement, state offices have paid above-market rents to operate out of a Benson-owned office tower next to the Superdome.
Because the estranged heirs have sought to demonstrate to the public Tom Benson's alleged mental fragility, they might have preferred a trial, which also would have provided them a venue to communicate with their Patriarch. However, the trustees who settled the case with Tom Benson were only legally bound to protect the heirs' financial interests, somewhat insulating them from the family drama.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson and trustees for his estranged heirs have ironed out legal and structural sticking points of a settlement that has been in the works since last June, avoiding a federal trial that was scheduled to begin on Monday.
At the time the family strife began, the heirs' trusts held more than 90 percent of Pelicans non-voting stock and more than half of Saints non-voting stock.
The 89-year-old Benson and the trustees had already agreed on the framework of a settlement removing shares of the pro teams from trusts set up for Benson's daughter,Cheap Basketball Jerseys China, Renee, and her two children,Seahawks Jersey Sale Cheap, Rita and Ryan LeBlanc. However, the sides still had to mutually accept technical details regarding how settlement payments would be made and guaranteed.
A trial was bound to shed more light on what kind of deal the teams are getting to play in the Superdome and neighboring basketball arena, as well as details about their various revenue streams. Benson also was expected to be compelled to testify; he was on a witness list submitted by attorneys this week.
Attorney Thomas Flanagan, who represents one of the trustees, said Friday he was informing the court that the parties had reached the confidential agreement, which allows Benson to avoid the likelihood that proprietary financial information sensitive to the NFL and NBA would become public record in court.
After a trial that was closed to the public, Judge Kern Reese ruled that while Benson sometimes exhibited the forgetfulness or impairment that is common among people his age, he remained aware of the consequences of his actions and therefore fit to continue overseeing his own affairs.
Benson bought the Saints for about $70 million