- 19 - Bergreen’s and Moody’s power over HG, expenses relating to the Gilman assets were estate expenses. The estate also contends that Bergreen and Moody acted primarily as executors in facilitating HG’s sale of Gilman assets, and that they did so to benefit the estate. We disagree. Bergreen and Moody wore many hats: they were executors of the estate, managers of HG, and members of the board of directors of the foundation. As part of the restructuring, the estate transferred GIC assets to HG and its subsidiaries. As a result, the GIC assets, including the Gilman businesses, ceased to be estate assets, and Bergreen’s and Moody’s management services related to those assets were performed for HG and its subsidiaries. The transfer of assets from the estate to HG and its subsidiaries severed the relationship the executors had with the transferred assets in their capacity as executors. Insofar as Bergreen and Moody had the same duties and responsibilities as managers of HG with respect to those assets as they had as executors, it does not follow that their actions for HG were taken in their capacity as executors. The estate claims both the tax benefits resulting from transferring the Gilman assets to HG and its subsidiaries (estimated by its tax advisers to be a tax savings of $160 million), and all of the deductions that would have been available to the estate if it had not transferred those assets. Using executors to run a commercial enterprise does notPage: Previous 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011