Posted on 02/21/2021 12:00:55 PM PST by billorites
A decade ago, the late Rush Limbaugh scoffed at the notion of leaving any of his money behind. We know this because he was reacting to us.
Our coverage of Steve Jobs' no-tax estate plan made a lot of waves. Rush felt the need to insert himself into the narrative by sharing his thoughts about legacy.
They were terse and tough. He didn't want to leave anything behind. If he spent everything and died broke, he'd be happy, he said.
Now, a year after announcing he had terminal cancer, he's gone. And as far as anyone can tell, he left a whole lot of money behind.
Some estimates put his net worth above $600 million. That's probably just career earnings and not a real net figure, but it provides a sense of the amount of cash flowing into his operation over the years.
He was the biggest name in radio. It takes a vast amount of work to burn as much as $85 million a year and have absolutely nothing to show for it.
We know that his "Southern Command" in Palm Beach alone can be worth up $50 million to his estate under the right conditions.
It's unlikely that his widow will keep it around forever. She was decades younger than he was and has a lot of living left to do.
Either way, unless Rush made a whole lot more effort to look out for his posterity than anyone but the tabloids suggests, she's the boss now.
There were no kids. She inherits it all.
Look carefully and you can see the tracks of what exactly that entails.
The Non-Profit Thread
Rush had lawyers on his side to structure his wishes. He hated taxes and shielded his privacy.
However, that privacy wasn't perfect. We know that the commercial rights to his show and auxiliary businesses were held in an LLC named after himself and his widow Kathryn.
Kathryn Adams Rush Hudson Limbaugh = KARHL. KARHL Holdings LLC was formed in 2010, when they got married.
It has two employees. It's them. And it shares an address with a charitable foundation the couple set up in their names.
The foundation's books are on record. It's relatively modest by billionaire standards, but a few million dollars a year have moved in and then out to Rush-friendly organizations.
Maybe it will inherit his stake in KARHL and start making huge grants. Either way, Kathryn will call the shots.
Now that Rush is gone, she and her aged mother are the only two officers of record.
And if she simply inherits his KARHL interest, the benefit goes to her.
Tabloids have suggested that Rush hated her toward the end and tried to cut her out of his will. I just don't see that.
For one thing, if he hated her, he would have carved up the holding company and wound down the foundation. None of that happened.
And where else would he put the money in the event of his death? He had a year to ponder mortality.
A prenuptial contract is remotely unlikely. Her name is on all the organizations, right up there with his, and these organizations were set up after the marriage.
He apparently wanted her to deal with his assets. Maybe that was part of the attraction.
She comes from some of the oldest money in New England. This is her dynastic world of galas and philanthropic planning.
For me, the biggest question is what happens to his legacy. The shows have a limited shelf life in rerun form, but there's a vast library of recorded material to mine.
He had millions of dedicated listeners. That audience is worth money too.
All it needs is a successor. That's the real question. Who inherits his desk and his microphone?
We'll find out.
That is really intriguing, like replacing Babe Ruth with Lou Gehrig for cleanup.
Nobody can take over for Rush. Trump is the closet thing and he already knows it would be a foolish effort to try . Fortunately it is a big market and lots of Lilliputians will pick up the pieces. Big Brother , as always, will try and crush them but He might win this time around.
Mark Steyn is my vote
this article sounds like utter b.s. to me
“Big boots to fill....I don’t think anyone can”
Me neither.......
Rush was one of a kind, genuine, sincere, firm in his beliefs in God and country and one of a kind.
He was that way because he was raised that way. His beliefs were instilled in him from day one.
Hopefully there is someone out there that has that same base and can articulate it..will see. Not looking good
Rush Limbaugh cannot or will not be duplicated.
His brother David is a lawyer and I thought he was part of Rush’s financial team, especially considering David and his kids are natural heirs.
Bo Snerdly
Why not a hologram? Since so many are reportedly making speeches nowadays...
I sure hope his last wife was solid conservative. The problem for a wealthy conservative is that the money attracts the exact opposite of people who are conservative. A perfect example is Teresa Heinz Kerry. Who got married to John Kerry taking her late pub husbands fortune and using it for the exact opposite of what he would have wished. Perma spin cycle in his grave. It would be nice to see whatever Rush left behind to be used for something he supported.
Trump one or two days a week would work.
The Golden mic belongs in the Smithsonian.
I plan on dying so deeply into hock, even my creditors won’t see a thin dime, even with the write-offs. Take that, ya bastards.
I agree that Mark Steyn was one of the best, if not the best of his guest hosts. But even Steyn could not hold a candle to Rush. Unless some unknown is out there with loaned talent, there is just no replacement-one of a kind and they broke the mold.
And the existing guest lineup the other two days, especially Mark Steyn. Could work, and work well.
I listened to Rush, Hannity, and Mark virtually everyday.
Sometimes Larry Elder.
Rush’s shoe’s are not possible to fill, but someone will
take up some of the slack. Personally I’d just shut EIB down and drop the microphone.
Marc Steyn is the only one who could carry on in the Rush tradition. Hope he will.
He of the 12” long tongue.
Ok, that right there is the Post of the Week, and it’s only Sunday.
How much “TIME” did his millions buy him? /s
How much does it cost to buy your way into “heaven” these days? /s
Rush will not be aware of where or how his millions are spent, nor would he care.
Rush is in the “spiritual realm” now. Only God himself knows for sure, what place. In either case, time and money do not exist. We all hope Rush is in the better place.
All this speculating on his money, is ghoulish. People ARE ghoulish after all.
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