Sports Billionaires Feud Over $3,000-an-Hour Estate Trustee Bill

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(Bloomberg) -- The billionaire owners of 1 of North America’s biggest sports empires are locked successful a feud implicit the $3,000-an-hour measure 1 handed the different for administering his deceased mother’s estate.

In a tribunal filing this period successful Toronto, telecommunications scion Edward Rogers objected to the astir $8 cardinal interest claimed by the 3 trustees of his mother’s estate. One of them is Larry Tanenbaum, Rogers’ spouse successful the holding institution that owns the National Basketball Association’s Toronto Raptors and the National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple Leafs.

The trustees assertion they’ve spent 2,652.5 hours administering the C$250 cardinal ($181 million) property since Loretta Anne Rogers died successful 2022. Edward Rogers says that estimation is “exorbitant” fixed overmuch of the day-to-day absorption was overseen by employees of the Rogers household office, and the 3 trustees hired professionals to assistance them, according to the filing. He besides takes contented with the complaint of compensation these hours and the full interest imply.

“Compensation astatine these rates is acold successful excess of what the applicants could reasonably expect to gain from full-time employment, and acold successful excess of what the Estate would reasonably beryllium charged by a nonrecreational oregon organization property executor,” Rogers says. “The effectual hourly complaint astatine which the applicants question to beryllium compensated is excessive and unreasonable.”

The filing, which was archetypal reported by the Globe and Mail, singles retired Tanenbaum arsenic peculiarly undeserving of compensation. He logged 125 hours successful the clip sheets submitted by the executors, versus much than 2,500 full for the different 2 trustees.

“He appears to person delegated the medication to his co-estate trustees,” Rogers says.

The trustees’ lawyer declined to comment. Edward Rogers’ lawyer didn’t respond to a petition for comment. Lawyers representing Edward Rogers’ 3 sisters, who are besides beneficiaries of their mother’s estate, didn’t respond to a petition for comment.

Though the amounts astatine contented are tiny compared to some men’s wealth, the quality adds a idiosyncratic twist to a big-money concern woody successful the works which could alteration the scenery of nonrecreational sports successful Canada. 

Rogers Communications Inc., which the Rogers household inactive controls, plans to acquisition the 25% involvement successful Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment it doesn’t already ain from Tanenbaum’s Kilmer Group earlier the extremity of the year, giving it afloat power of 2 of Canada’s astir invaluable sports franchises.