ICanSleepWhenI'mDead Posted April 30, 2014 Posted April 30, 2014 OK, let me say right up front that both my Darryl brothers think this is a long shot. One reason why wealthy people like Ralph Wilson use trusts is to keep their financial affairs private. The Darryls and I have seen media reports that Mary Wilson and Jeffrey Littman are both trustees of the trust that now owns the Bills - - we don't know if that's true, but we also have no reason to doubt it. If Mary, Jeffrey and any other trustees refuse to answer questions about the details of the trust, there's probably not much that reporters can do to uncover and report on those details. This helps makes people like John Wawrow ornery when dealing with the collection of whack jobs who post on TBD. But just maybe there's a back door to get the same info. Ralph had other business interests besides the Bills, and he owned other assets. Is it likely that Ralph created a single trust of broad scope that contained not only his football team, but at least some of his other valuable assets as well? Just speculating now, but it seems possible - - it might be more efficient to do it that way than to have separate trusts for many different assets. So what's the point? Here's the point: Ralph owned a number of very valuable racehorses during his lifetime. Sometimes racehorses break down and your investment in them goes "poof," so people insure them. One particular colt that Ralph bought in about 2001 later got injured and had to be euthanized, and a dispute arose about whether the insurance company had to pay up on an $875,000 policy. The dispute wound up in a Kentucky court. The court decided in favor of the insurance company, so Ralph's $875,000 went "poof." But along the way, the court's published opinion revealed that the horse was actually owned not by Ralph in his individual capacity, but by Ralph as Trustee of the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Revocable Trust. It also mentioned that Jeffrey Littman managed the insurance for Ralph's stable of race horses. So there could be some rational basis for transferring ownership of the colt pre-injury to the same trust in which Littman and Mary Wilson would eventually become trustees upon Ralph's death (because Littman was immersed in Ralph's horse racing endeavors as well as Ralph's NFL business). It's a long shot, but there could have been discovery taken in that court case requiring Ralph to provide a copy of that trust's provisions to the insurance company and its lawyers. 1. Is it the same trust that now owns the Bills? - - can't say. 2. Even if it's the same trust, did the insurance company and its lawyers ever get a copy of it during the case? - - can't say. 3. Even if it's the same trust and the insurance company/lawyers got a copy, was a protective order entered by the court to make sure it stayed confidential? - - can't say. 4. Is a copy buried in a file cabinet somewhere in Kentucky or in London (where the insurance company was based)? - - can't say. I can't research it any further on-line, and trusts really aren't the Darryls' thing anyway. If anybody out there's interested, somebody's gotta pick up a phone and make some calls, and that ain't me or the Darryls. Like I said, it's a long shot. But so were Pat Williams and Jabari Greer. http://asci.uvm.edu/equine/law/cases/insure/hiscox.htm Wilson, as Trustee of the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Revocable Trust, is the owner and a named insured on Lloyd's Policy No. 483/H119752 insuring against the humane destruction of the unnamed 1999 bay colt out of the mare Lonely Girl by the thoroughbred stallion Unbridled owned by the Trust. Roll Tide!
Bills Fan since '64 Posted April 30, 2014 Posted April 30, 2014 the collection of whack jobs who post on TBD. Looks like someone just joined the club.
Jamie Nails Posted April 30, 2014 Posted April 30, 2014 Great thinking. Thanks for spending time on this post. Sometimes these things are a back door for this type of information. That said, I don't think anything obtained during this proceeding would be up to date or accurate as it pertains to the Bills. While some structure may be gleaned, I'm not sure that it's going to provide much insight. But, like Reading Rainbow, don't take my word for it.
machine gun kelly Posted April 30, 2014 Posted April 30, 2014 I'm not sure if everyone has read these recent articles coming from Toronto. They are interesting regarding how Ralph's agreement with NYS, and how iron clad the language is to maintain the Bills in Buffalo. It gels well with Ralph's contention all along to keep the Bills in Buffalo. There have been at least 5 serious inquiries by ownership suitors wanting to keep the Bills here. I'm starting to feel more comfortable our team will be fine, and Ralph was a great guy after all. We'll probably know by Christmas. Lastly, the owners don't want another Cleveland situation, or Indianapolis. Go Bills!
Ed_Formerly_of_Roch Posted April 30, 2014 Posted April 30, 2014 Or another way is investigate his tax returns filed for the next xouple of years. But in either case most likely you'd be figuring it all out after it's already played out and you know the results. If it was announced that Jeramy Jacobs bought the team would anyone really care much what the trust says. All people care is that the Bill's are staying in Buffalo.
1B4IDie Posted April 30, 2014 Posted April 30, 2014 Looks like someone just joined the club. Actually I think ICANSLEEPWHENIMDEAD is on to something. A lot of stuff gets entered into public record through lawsuits like this. That's how the NFL relocation policy was made visible to everyone, through the Minnesota negotiations. If someone has the resources it wouldn't hurt to see what FOIA request will get you in that case.
ICanSleepWhenI'mDead Posted April 30, 2014 Author Posted April 30, 2014 Looks like someone just joined the club. If you think I've only recently joined the "whack job" club you haven't been paying attention.
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