[KevinB]

Gift tax is a federal tax on transfers of money or property to other people while getting nothing (or less than full value) in return. If the company was no longer owned by the gift giver he is getting nothing of future value from his ex employees. I’m sure tax lawyers were consulted.

I'm a tax lawyer. The articles says, "he shared profits from the sale of the Des Moines-based minor-league baseball team with all 23 of the club’s full-time employees." This is not a gift. It's a profit sharing bonus. I'm certain that he/the company took a deduction for the amount paid. It's inconceivable to me that he sold the team, realized the profits, paid taxes on those profits and then distributed those profits to the employees without taking a deduction. He certainly issued them 1099's. Compensation is for past performance not future performance.

[JayGalt]

It certainly is an interesting topic. Depends on how he wanted to structure it. Thanks for your input.