Wayne Cubed Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 And that would make Mary a trustee, not an owner or controlling owner. RIght, but the NFL cannot be run by a group of individuals, there needs to be a majority owner. Hence, controlling owner, not named sole owner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Saw that too. lol. so the guesses that it wasnt littman but someone with semi-close proximity and no actual access to meetings or decision making seems to be about right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mannc Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 RIght, but the NFL cannot be run by a group of individuals, there needs to be a majority owner. Hence, controlling owner, not named sole owner. My problem is with your use of the term "owner". A trustee is not an owner; a trustee is a person who controls a trust. The trust is the owner of the asset, in this case, the Bills. If Mary is the sole trustee or one of several trustees, she is not an owner or controlling owner, although she might, as trustee, control the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris heff Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 The new downtown stadium will be called "The Mary" After enduring the last 15 season maybe that's a better name for the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 After enduring the last 15 season maybe that's a better name for the team. all players and fans will be forced to wear gloves, even to the august preseason games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Cubed Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 (edited) My problem is with your use of the term "owner". A trustee is not an owner; a trustee is a person who controls a trust. The trust is the owner of the asset, in this case, the Bills. If Mary is the sole trustee or one of several trustees, she is not an owner or controlling owner, although she might, as trustee, control the team. I never said a trustee is an owner. A trustee in this instance, is an administrator of a will. But an NFL team can't be owned by a group or trust without having someone with controlling interest. A majority stake. A controlling owner. EDIT: Mary Wilson can be a trustee of Ralph Wilson's will AND be controlling owner of the Bills. Edited April 3, 2014 by Wayne Cubed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDIGGZ Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 You guys are all getting worked up for no reason. Ralph had to put the team in her name to avoid crazy estate taxes. She has no interest in being the owner. It clearly says in the letter that she will be working with the NFL to find a new long term owner. Nothing to see here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Cain Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 That is simply not true. It is possible that Mary is a beneficiary of the trust, but that does not make her the owner of the team or any particular percentage of the team. Either the team is "owned" by the trust, or it's not. If Mary is the majority or controlling owner, then the team is not owned by the trust. If true, this is most definitely unexpected and contrary to what we had been told earlier. As another poster said, if Mary is the owner then she can do with the team as she likes, although I am not sure what the NFL's internal rules are with regard to a team being passed on to a spouse or other beneficiary under the terms of a will. Merely conjecture at this point. What we know at this point is the team is held in a trust, how or who gets a certain percentage of the sale of the franchise remains to be seen. I was simply stating Mary is not the majority owner, but could become a minority owner depending on how the estate is written. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyC81 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 My problem is with your use of the term "owner". A trustee is not an owner; a trustee is a person who controls a trust. The trust is the owner of the asset, in this case, the Bills. If Mary is the sole trustee or one of several trustees, she is not an owner or controlling owner, although she might, as trustee, control the team. Then you should have a problem with the Bills and not Waynecubed. The Bills website has "controlling owner" in the article title and body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yungmack Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Diana Ross must be pissed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mannc Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Merely conjecture at this point. What we know at this point is the team is held in a trust, how or who gets a certain percentage of the sale of the franchise remains to be seen. I was simply stating Mary is not the majority owner, but could become a minority owner depending on how the estate is written. Yes, there is some conjecture involved, largely because the report is incomplete and contrary what was reported before. If the team is in fact owned by the trust, then Mary is not the owner. It also means that the team was not passed to any individual in Ralph's will; it was likely put into the trust before he died. (The terms of the trust probably prohibited the trustee from selling the team before Ralph's death.) When the team is sold, it will be sold by the trust and the proceeds, after taxes and expenses, would be distributed to the beneficiaries of the trust, of whom Mary is almost certainly one. In that context, this latest report makes little sense and is probably in error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 I always said the team would be passed to Mary and sold when the time was right and not sold immediately to the highest bidder. And I think that "controlling owner" is for the NFL's purposes, as she's probably the trustee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iraq Vet Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 My Theory....This means the team has been sold to others already. There is more than one owner. There might have been a couple of them secretly for years. This group probably will buy the remainder from Mary soon. I suspected that Ralph had been selling small shares from Jim Kelly's group for years. This keeps money moved to Mary tax free at death. Your not a billionaire without a plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trader Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 The trust needs to hold a press conference so they can explain just what is going on and what the short and long term goals of the team are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SF Bills Fan Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 No surprise- there is no tax liability tgst way. I bet she retains a piece of the team when it is sold. I think this is a benefit for Buffalo as it seems she is a pro Buffalo person. She can help make sure the team passes to local interests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Campy Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Well, Mr. Technology, I can't get that app on my DPC-550 phone. The ol' Moto PC550. I sold thousands of those back in the day! Well played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICanSleepWhenI'mDead Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 (edited) Wayne Cubed and mannc: The language that you folks are trying to interpret says Mary Wilson is the "controlling owner," but doesn't specify in what sense it is using the word "owner" - - my brother Darryl says it can be two different things: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_law An owner placing property into trust turns over part of his or her bundle of rights to the trustee, separating the property's legal ownership and control from its equitable ownership and benefits. This may be done for tax reasons or to control the property and its benefits if the settlor is absent, incapacitated, or dead. Darryl doesn't know which meaning of "owner" was intended in the language you've been discussing because the exact language used is ambiguous. It would be consistent with earlier media reports about the team being placed in a trust, however, if Mary Wilson is now an "equitable owner" (sometimes called a "beneficial owner") because she is a beneficiary of the trust with a vested interest in the proceeds of any future sale of the team. Edited April 3, 2014 by ICanSleepWhenI'mDead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jauronimo Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Wayne Cubed and mannc: The language that you folks are trying to interpret says Mary Wilson is the "controlling owner," but doesn't specify in what sense it is using the word "owner" - - my brother Darryl says it can be two different things: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_law Darryl doesn't know which meaning of "owner" was intended in the language you've been discussing because the exact language used is ambiguous. It would be consistent with earlier media reports about the team being placed in a trust, however, if Mary Wilson is now an "equitable owner" (sometimes called a "beneficial owner") because she is a beneficiary of the trust with a vested interest in the proceeds of any future sale of the team. You are a real wiki scholar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QCity Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 *yawn* What does it mean that Mary Wilson is in control of the Buffalo Bills? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyC81 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Wayne Cubed and mannc: The language that you folks are trying to interpret says Mary Wilson is the "controlling owner," but doesn't specify in what sense it is using the word "owner" - - my brother Darryl says it can be two different things: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_law Darryl doesn't know which meaning of "owner" was intended in the language you've been discussing because the exact language used is ambiguous. It would be consistent with earlier media reports about the team being placed in a trust, however, if Mary Wilson is now an "equitable owner" (sometimes called a "beneficial owner") because she is a beneficiary of the trust with a vested interest in the proceeds of any future sale of the team. What does your other brother Darryl think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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