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Posted

“Ralph cared very much for his hometown of Detroit and the people of Western New York, home of his beloved Bills, and I know his wishes to make a difference in those two areas will be important for us as trustees who are driven by our love and respect for Ralph,” Mary M. Wilson, Ralph C. Wilson Jr.’s widow, said in the statement. “Ralph’s generosity was also felt in other parts of the country where his life had been touched and these areas will be important to us going forward as they were important to Ralph.”

 

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/wilson-foundation-will-offer-grants-beginning-in-2016-20141210

Posted

Impressive. Way to go Wilson's.

 

i still think the guy could have helped us avoid dropping $120m into a stadium they're gonna bulldoze by simply selling the team to Terry a few years ago (even if just a contract that isnt executed until his death) but it looks like he's more than making up for that waste of money with a monster foundation boost.

 

Leave it to Ralph to force me to like him even after he dies. Fine I'll say it: Ralph Aint Cheap

Posted

If the money form the sale of the team did not go to his spouse, does the Trust pay taxes on it?

 

My understanding is that the money going to the charitable foundation is not taxed. Jack Kent Cooke took the same charitable foundation estate planning strategy to avoid the taxing of his estate. His money went to a foundation that provided college scholarships for DC residents. His son was not a beneficiary of his father's charitable largesse. He wasn't very happy about being left out of the will.

Posted

talk about giving back to the community !!

 

that trust over the next 100 years will give back more to WNY than ralph ever got from us.

 

think of the John R Oshie Foundation on steroids: ralphs trust DWARFS (3 times bigger) the oshie trust

 

A Catalyst For Change

 

Our mission is to be a catalyst for change to enhance the economic vitality and quality of life for the Buffalo Niagara region through grantmaking, leadership and network building.

Posted

My understanding is that the money going to the charitable foundation is not taxed. Jack Kent Cooke took the same charitable foundation estate planning strategy to avoid the taxing of his estate. His money went to a foundation that provided college scholarships for DC residents. His son was not a beneficiary of his father's charitable largesse. He wasn't very happy about being left out of the will.

 

SO Uncle Sam gets nothing on a sales transaction of 1.4 billion?

 

Also, is it possible that the source of a significant part of this largesse, by design, is Pegula himself? It seems he was never bidding against any other serious competitor (Bon Jovi, et al were just a diversion, ditto Trump), yet he shelled out what seems to be a seriously inflated price for a small market team with a regional following, few high rollers to spend on the boxes and no new stadium (and a state gov't that will not fund a new stadium).

 

Maybe, given that the trust would be the beneficiary and not the Wilson survivors, Pegula kicked in (over paid) as a way to give more money to the Buffalo region. I haven't seen any other explanation why he paid so much when there was no real "bidding war".

Posted

Seriously? You aren't comfortable with his billion dollar donation?

 

Has any of the billion gone anywhere yet expect to a non taxable account controlled by his niece and Littmen? When the foundation builds a school or curse the blind I will be happy.

Posted (edited)

"Ralph cared very much for his hometown of Detroit and the people of Western New York, home of his beloved Bills, and I know his wishes to make a difference in those two areas will be important for us as trustees who are driven by our love and respect for Ralph," Mary M. Wilson, Ralph C. Wilson Jr.'s widow, said in the statement. "Ralph's generosity was also felt in other parts of the country where his life had been touched and these areas will be important to us going forward as they were important to Ralph."

 

http://www.buffalone...n-2016-20141210

 

Too bad he couldn't use that money that made him this fortune to build a sustainable winner for the people that were giving him all this money all those years.

Edited by BuffaloBillsForever
Posted

 

 

Has any of the billion gone anywhere yet expect to a non taxable account controlled by his niece and Littmen? When the foundation builds a school or curse the blind I will be happy.

It's in an account, on a grassy knoll.

 

The first $50K went to the Red Cross in WNY.

Posted

SO Uncle Sam gets nothing on a sales transaction of 1.4 billion?

 

Also, is it possible that the source of a significant part of this largesse, by design, is Pegula himself? It seems he was never bidding against any other serious competitor (Bon Jovi, et al were just a diversion, ditto Trump), yet he shelled out what seems to be a seriously inflated price for a small market team with a regional following, few high rollers to spend on the boxes and no new stadium (and a state gov't that will not fund a new stadium).

 

Maybe, given that the trust would be the beneficiary and not the Wilson survivors, Pegula kicked in (over paid) as a way to give more money to the Buffalo region. I haven't seen any other explanation why he paid so much when there was no real "bidding war".

 

My understanding is that Uncle Sam doesn't get any revenue from the transaction that went to the charitable foundation. As I said in a prior post Jack Kent Cooke of the Redskins did the same thing of selling the franchise and having the proceeds go to a charitable foundation, thus avoiding estate taxes.

 

Let's give Ralph Wilson some credit. He doesn't know much about football but he does know how to make a good deal for himself. The extravagant price Pegula paid had llittle to do with his generosity toward funding Wilson's foundation. He probably didn't even know about it.. When Pegula was asked why he spent so much for the team when there was a chance he could have bid less and still gotten the franchise his response was I wanted to make sure I got what I wanted to get. He added, from my perspective it is not overpaying if you get what you want and you can afford it.

 

If you recall prior to the bidding Pegula cashed out one of his assets for approximately $1.4 B. He set it aside for his bidding money and made it very publicly known to all the other bidders how far he was willing to go. That was his blow away the competitiion strategy that he employed. For him it wasn't about how much money he was willing to spend, it was about guaranteeing you get what you want.

Posted

It's in an account, on a grassy knoll.

 

The first $50K went to the Red Cross in WNY.

 

That's great, I hope there more to come, but if his family runs the trust the same way he ran the team. He all need to find a new role model.

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