Ownership Changes: JR's Sons looking to buy partial share of Sox

[DeployEloy]

Felt this didn’t belong into the preseason thread, but apparently the Reinsdorf sons are looking to purchase a non-controlling share of the Sox. Clearly this is a stepping stone to keep the Sox in the family long term, right?

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/cons...want-stake-sox


Edit: Screen Cap of Twitter post added

[HomeFish]

Isn't the general belief on WSI that he advised his sons to sell the team upon his demise?

[DeployEloy]

Isn't the general belief on WSI that he advised his sons to sell the team upon his demise?

That't what I thought as well, which makes the decision to buy in all the stranger. I also thought it was widely known beyond this site that Jerry would intend to sell at some point

[ChiTownTrojan]

I imagine the difference between this and Jerry just increasing his share is that it lowers the tax hit once Jerry dies and leaves his shares to them?

[Lipman 1]

JR has publicly said many times he will never sell unless he is incapacitated or losing so much money it is no longer worth the investment. He has also said publicly many times that he is advising the family to sell the team (but keep the Bulls when he is gone):

“The only way I’d sell in the foreseeable future is for health or family reasons or if we lost so much money that it didn’t make sense to keep the team. Under the most recent changes in the law, a pro sports franchise no longer is a good tax shelter. The owners can’t write off half the cost immediately for player depreciation.”– Jerry Reinsdorf to Bob Logan. From the book ‘Miracle On 35^th Street’ by Bob Logan. Pg. 146. Published 1983.

He also told Bob Sirott on "Chicago Tonight" in May 2004, that he has told his family to sell the club when he is gone.

[LITTLE NELL]

Not sure how I feel about the Reinsdorf boys taking the helm. My gut feeling is that some new and different owners would be my preference.
As far as investments go, Reinsdorf and company have made a killing. They bought the franchise in 1981 for around 20 million dollars and it is now worth 1.6 billion dollars, quite a return on the initial investment.

[Lipman 1]

Not sure how I feel about the Reinsdorf boys taking the helm. My gut feeling is that some new and different owners would be my preference.
As far as investments go, Reinsdorf and company have made a killing. They bought the franchise in 1981 for around 20 million dollars and it is now worth 1.6 billion dollars, quite a return on the initial investment.

Don't know for sure but I'm thinking the sale price was between 14-16 million in 81.

[Mohoney]

Hopefully this can be Rocky Wirtz 2.0 and the kids can talk some sense into their penny-pinching father.

[Mohoney]

Not sure how I feel about the Reinsdorf boys taking the helm. My gut feeling is that some new and different owners would be my preference.
As far as investments go, Reinsdorf and company have made a killing. They bought the franchise in 1981 for around 20 million dollars and it is now worth 1.6 billion dollars, quite a return on the initial investment.

And if they sell, that capital gains tax would be massive.

[LITTLE NELL]

Don't know for sure but I'm thinking the sale price was between 14-16 million in 81.

Just googled an article in Forbes magazine, selling price in 1981 was 19 million and they put the current value at 1.5 billion. Reinsdorf share in the franchise is 19% which comes out to 285 million bucks. So many scenarios when Reinsdorf passes, who would be the controlling partner, what would the other partners do and as stated in the opening post in the thread how do the Reinsdorf sons figure in the picture. There could some major battles down the road.

[berwyn]

And if they sell, that capital gains tax would be massive.

20% federal and 5% state is massive but it still leaves 75%. That's not a bad haul. Enough to get by.

[Mohoney]

20% federal and 5% state is massive but it still leaves 75%. That's not a bad haul. Enough to get by.

How would that compare to an inheritance tax? What other ways exist to lower any tax liability? Would there be any possibility of declaring massive COVID-related losses in 2020-2021 and dodging taxes through that channel?

It may take years to finalize something. Tens of millions of dollars are at stake if the wrong decision is made.

[Dumpjerry]

The estate tax is very easy to escape and the Cap Gains won't be a factor. Remember, Uncle Jerry cut his teeth after law school working at the IRS, he knows the tax code better than anyone else on the planet.

[Kobo]

The estate tax is very easy to escape and the Cap Gains won't be a factor. Remember, Uncle Jerry cut his teeth after law school working at the IRS, he knows the tax code better than anyone else on the planet.

He knew the tax code well 40 years ago. Doesn't mean he has the same knowledge now after all the changes that have been made over the years. That being said, you know he has figured out some way to lessen the tax burden on his family if he dies and his shares go to the family.

[Paulwny]

I'm sure that JR's bean counters have advised him on all his financial holdings to lessen the tax burden.