worth 8 million dollars. ( assuming phaidon srichard happens. 24 m savings not including artspace and debt benefits certain to come later) FYI the phaidon transaction cannot happen as currently comtemplated IT will not work . NOT
When we had our meeting in your home in Bedford. You asked me for my help. I told you multiple times that i thought it was a very bad idea, in that I preferred to have no financial interactions. I dont have many friends and didnt want money in any way to interfere with our unique relationship. Reminder, For five years you had the kind but goofy Eileen Alexandersson as the sole manager of your accounting , legal, investments. reporting, trusts etc. When I first told you in no uncertain terms that I firmly believed she was incompetent you admonished me for " speaking out of both sides of my mouth". With regard Brad Wechsler , there has never been a " both sides. ". I have consistantly maintained since day one that he was highly unsuited for the job. When you initially asked me to help convince him to take the role , promising him a position to manage mirage investments I sent you a note saying that instead of hiring him you should pay up and get first class people. I have reiterated the same message for over a year now. . Brad , not me ,was tasked with hiring new people , according to his org chart.(nauseating ) and as you wanted him to take ownership of the staffjhe conducted many interviews alone. . you may recall that as late as may, you told him in my presence that though six months had passed he had not hired anyone. since then I have rectified errors in sales tax, use tax, income tax, fbar reporting, 1031 reporting, 8 million of deductions missed errors of millions on the returns. ,( april ) Oversight on new grats- first at 22 and then at 19 that were done without my consultation and needed to be resolved soley as a result of my last minute intervention. . 600 million in after tax savings was Just accomplished. though you left the 30 million outstanding that I had said should only be done” if” that was my additional fee. not used for non biz purposes and not art.
in June and then again Sept, we both agreed to a 50% of phaidon payout first projected at 20 . but less when artspace and debt taken out, - then only after weeks, when you delayed any detailed discussion of money wanting to give the issue a thoughtful response ( which I fully understand ) . you unilaterally changed our agreement.. 5m would be reserved for the future ? . and out of the remaining 15m ,? 1 would receive only a third. (note: I'm confident that both the debt , and the art space investment will also lead to a write- off of another 30 m. plus ) In my dining room ,you were surprised when I said that i require most people to pay their advisory fee up front so that I am assured that I will be properly compensated for my work when strategies are implemented . you may recall that you appeared offended and said " are you suggesting that 1 would go back on my word" I said no , of course not ! you are my closest of friends ,but my experience is that when amounts get large, people tend to get unhappy when it actually comes time for them to pay.
I include below the email i sent to you on April 15, the day i was examining your returns It laid out my understanding of the compensation agreed for a transaction of the magnitude to the penny of the one just completed.ic 600m When it appeared that the transcation would and could go foward I was the first to point out that our agreement would cost you too much money, therefore
From day one I proposed to discount our agreement toa 50-60 million range. An extremely fair price for all the transactions just completed . including Phaidon. - JI was never told that this was out of range. in fact, alternative methods of payment .ie my plane, or an -in-kind payment were discussed (
ie including keeping the 30m portion of the fee outstanding till March ) ,I provided , only because you specifically requested a detailed step by step execution plan and reviewed all documents that 1 was given access to. ( Phaidon was never forthcoming ) in order to make my many corrections . ( as i said more needed on phaidon ). Iwas then told that Alans involvement warranted a discount. Even in the best of light , though it is beyond question that not one time in the three years of his retainer has he ever proposed a unique idea. (including any way to deal with the use issue on debras death ,or even the most basic review of your largest asset by far , the BRH agreement. ) O.K. - lets say he made a contribution to the plan and stretch reality beyond the pale and say it was 50 %. though no one could posit such a large amount unless they were wearing a clown suit. , the payment and our formula of 37 percent associated with the deal was known . It had both sent in writing and spoken about on the phone numerous times , a detailed execution plan was provided . then and only then, after the entire transaction was laid out for the group to follow You told
me that after a number of conversations with brad karp that a total of only 20m would be paid , (and even that was more than you originally contemplated ) for both transactions . Leon I feel It was remarkably unfair. Did brad even knew of our prior agreements.? ?, I would ask that you I and Brad karp sit together if you think it
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023339