Jim Kelly on LA Live

[tonyd19]

The controlling owner must own 30% of the franchise OR as little as 10% IF members of his family own, collectively, another 20%.

 

Since, we presume, no family member will own the team, that means another owner and/ or his family will need to step up to cover the 30% minimum. A trust is not an individual and corprate ownership is not allowed.Jim Kelly doesn't have 30% of whateve the sale price will be. He may become a fractional owner, like Venus Williams of the Dolphins, at most.

 

Also, if Ralph were to give to whomever he wants that's not an heir, it doesn't matter if there is no inheritence tax this year. The recipient is on the hook for the taxes.

 

Weo, I think you are confusing corporate ownership with a public corporation. Public corporations (IE, ones that trade their stock on the open market, like McDonalds or Ford,) are not allowed in the NFL. Private corporations are very much allowed. Private corporations are private business strucutres that do not sell shares to the public by way of stock offerings over the market. Much like a family owned restuarant that is structured in a private LLC. Hope this clarifies.

[Doc]

It could have been done a number of ways. Probably through a family trust and solid estate planning that kept enough liquid assets in the estate to cover the estate tax liability for the business.

I heard something about a trust. So that would be one potential avenue. What makes the most sense though is leaving the team to his wife.

[tonyd19]

I heard something about a trust. So that would be one potential avenue. What makes the most sense though is leaving the team to his wife.

 

 

Yes, he can pass the team onto his wife without any tax liability. However, there are two problems with that.

 

1) When his wife dies, there would be a heavy tax liability to whomever she left the asset to, including family members (assuming both survive until 2011).

 

2) When it becomes the wife's asset, she can do with it what she pleases. So Ralph's wishes essentially go out the window. If she wanted to leave the team to her lovely cat, she could do so legally, but I am sure the NFL would have an issue with that!

[bbb]

Good info, Tony D. - as somebody said earlier, this is our biggest concern. Not how bad the offensive line is.

[gobillsinytown]

Good info, Tony D. - as somebody said earlier, this is our biggest concern. Not how bad the offensive line is.

 

I've been saying this for a long time.....we fans are going to have a lot more to worry about once Ralph dies. This is an 800 million dollar asset, and it's going to be interesting to say the least.

[Coby Fan]

The issue with leaving his team to his wife is that Mary Wilson is a second wife, about the same age as Ralph's daughters, and not their mother.

Think of this as a family business, where the kids come to work and expect some day to take over. Only dad dumps mom ( Ralph's divorce was the largest settlement in Michigan history at the time) and now there is a new wife who can expect to inherit the business.

Ralph might have to keep his plans secrete, or live to be 200, in order to keep the women in his life from castrating him.

[Mr. WEO]

Weo, I think you are confusing corporate ownership with a public corporation. Public corporations (IE, ones that trade their stock on the open market, like McDonalds or Ford,) are not allowed in the NFL. Private corporations are very much allowed. Private corporations are private business strucutres that do not sell shares to the public by way of stock offerings over the market. Much like a family owned restuarant that is structured in a private LLC. Hope this clarifies.

I don't think there can be any type of corporate ownership. There has to be an invididual/family owner at 30%.

 

No team has corporate ownership of either kind.

[Doc]

The issue with leaving his team to his wife is that Mary Wilson is a second wife, about the same age as Ralph's daughters, and not their mother.

Think of this as a family business, where the kids come to work and expect some day to take over. Only dad dumps mom ( Ralph's divorce was the largest settlement in Michigan history at the time) and now there is a new wife who can expect to inherit the business.

Ralph might have to keep his plans secrete, or live to be 200, in order to keep the women in his life from castrating him.

Reportedly none of Ralph's daughters want the team after he passes, and the same probably goes for his wife. However passing the team to her and then selling the team would make the most sense, since it would eliminate the issue of estate taxes.