Herb Simon, the current owner of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers, requested a court to declare that the widow of his brother Melvin has no ongoing financial stake in the team. The request came to light when court documents were released and contained material that was mistakenly left unredacted. In addition, it was revealed that Melvin’s widow has been in disputes with his children as well as contesting an IRS assessment that seeks $21 million in taxes. This dispute is the latest in a long line of high profile suits over the ownership of a professional sports team between family members with the Benson estate battle being another recent example. However, the suit does not appear to implicate control of the team in anyway as the majority stake owned by Herb is uncontroverted.
See, Billionaire Indiana Pacers owner Herb Simon launches legal battle to declare late brother’s widow has no ownership over team, The Daily Mail, September 14, 2015.
Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.
