In 1943, John L. Griffin borrowed $200 to buy a used truck so he could go out and collect dead animals off the side of the road. From these extremely humble beginnings, Griffin grew his road-kill collecting business into a multi-million dollar animal-processing empire. Unfortunately, upon his death, his sons transferred property that should have gone to their sisters into the company in order to lubricate an $840 million sale. What has become a decades-long family dispute was somewhat finalized on Monday when the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals weighed in on the feud. The court awarded the Griffin sisters $573 million in damages in recognition of the fraudulent manner their brothers handled the administration of the estate.
See Bruce Crippen, Appeals Court Rules in $573 Million Griffin Industries Family Dispute, Cincinnati Business Courier, August 1, 2017.
Special thanks to Jay Brinker, estate planning attorney, for bringing this article to my attention.
