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.
Trump has the perfect message, but he’s got the eloquence of a caveman. LOL.
JOHN KERRY DIVORCES HEINZ, SAYS HE MUST "COMFORT" RU$H'S WIDOW
Steyn and Mark Davis are happy warriors. Still neither can match. Leno was not better than Carson. We just have to live with it.
I dont understand what I am reading in that article
Rush hated his wife at the end?
that makes no sense
Rush hated the wife’s mother?
Someone explain this to me.
I see plenty of folks suggesting Trump as a radio guy of sorts and I keep thinking they've got to be kidding.
Trump spent too much time on one subject and most times the subject was him.
He can do speaking gigs of a sort but three hours a day on the radio?
Heh.
bookmark
“That is really intriguing, like replacing Babe Ruth with Lou Gehrig for cleanup.”
Babe Ruth, uniform #3, batted third.
Louis Gehrig, uniform #4, batted fourth.
Gehrig always was the cleanup hitter.
My dad sent me and my brothers a letter once. In it, he said that he planned to die broke.
He failed in that goal. He left his wife in financial comfort for as long as she lives and each of us got a serious boost to our retirement accounts.
You posted that some tabloids said they hated each other.
Well that’s what tabloids do! I don’t believe that for a minute.
Rush really had trouble with his second wife so maybe the tabloid got it all mixed up. He used to say he had to buy them a house to make them go away.
Nobody has or has had Rush’s genuine affection for, and devotion to, his audience.
That’s true.
No wife...
Trump has the perfect message, but he’s got the eloquence of a caveman. LOL.
—————————————————
Yes but that “eloquence” is what resulted in his having hit TV shows and what resulted in millions attending Trump rallies over the years.
Trump is not a natural born speaker like Rush was. His shows would have to be heavily scripted and directed, but it could work
I said he left his wife very comfortable. The rest went to my brothers and I.
Ditto.
I’m hoping PRESIDENT Donald Trump becomes the permanent sit in for Rush from noon to three, Monday through Friday. Drive the ‘White Guilt’ crowd crazy.
After the Rush Limbaugh Show
No one person.
Make it The EIB Program. Feature rotating guest hosts with one host who ties it together at the beginning.
Have Steyn and others do in-depth interviews of the news makers of the day.
This could be a dynamic program.
In Florida, that is not the case, unless their law has changed since 2013.
A mandatory minimum of 40% goes to the living wife. That money can also be placed in a Trust, which pays all the annual Trust income to the wife for life.
After the wife's death, a new Trust beneficiary can be named, such as a charity, children, etc., or the Trust can be terminated and all the Trust assets distributed to new beneficiaries.
Hannity is so vapid and repetitive.
bzactly
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