I’m just curious...if there never was a settlement of $88 million offered to ANS, WHERE did that rumor come from? Did Anna and HKS make it up to play to the media and bolster their position that J. Howard Marshall wanted Anna to have half (which would be their reason for turning down the offer) of his fortune? I just assumed that the $88 mil settlement offer was a fact, but if it wasn’t, I wonder who started that rumor. Do you know?
I have no idea. It was around before I started paying any attention and in spite of reams of text written to put the kibosh on it, it just keep going and going, a la Energizer.
The $88 million came from a number that was awarded by one of the CA courts along the way, as a reduction from the original $475 million. It was *allegedly* a more accurate reflection of JHMII’s asset earnings in the 14 months of their marriage.
However, no one has a true valuation of the private Kock Industries stock - and moreover, ANS wasn’t claiming against the will or putting in even a “widow’s claim.” She was just making something up of whole cloth.
Anyway, that court was the one that decided it would be something like $46 million - and then they tacked on something like $42 million in punitive damages because they believed ANS’s legal teams lies’ about Pierce Marshall.
The problem was that they only called 4 witnesses - whereas Texas probate court had a 6-month trial and covered the same issues, with findings all being against ANS. So, the $88 million was overturned and then the SCOTUS remanded it on the appeal.