Boston Globe Item on WERS LMA Proposal

[Doug Drown]

"My understanding was that the Jones Trust was set
to expire in 99 years (starting, it appears, in 1979, so that would be
2078), or if the classical format were to become uneconomical to operate."

If that's true, then as far as I can see (granted, I'm a layman), there's no
way this sale can go through.  WCRB is turning a healthy profit, is it not?

-Doug




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Garrett Wollman" <wollman@csail.mit.edu>
To: "R Trovato" <xtrovato@yahoo.com>
Cc: <bri@bostonradio.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 09, 2006 5:32 PM
Subject: Re: Boston Globe Item on WERS LMA Proposal


> <<On Sun, 9 Apr 2006 16:14:37 -0400, "R Trovato" <xtrovato@yahoo.com>
said:
>
> > Aren't the stockholders the ones who are deciding to sell it?
>
> Trusts of this sort don't have stockholders.  They have trustees, who
> are the people responsible for managing the trust's affairs, and they
> have beneficiaries, who are the people who are entitled receive the
> trust's assets when it is dissolved.  The trustees have an obligation
> to manage the trust for the benefit of the beneficiaries, but the
> exact purpose of the trust, and circumstances in which it may be
> dissolved, are set out in the legal documents which created it.  Every
> situation is different.
>
> Trusts have limited lifetimes; often they are linked to some life
> event for a descendant of the grantor.  If you own shares in a
> Fidelity mutual fund, you're dealing with a trust which will expire
> upon the death of either Abigail Johnson or her father, Ned, should
> she predecease him.  My understanding was that the Jones Trust was set
> to expire in 99 years (starting, it appears, in 1979, so that would be
> 2078), or if the classical format were to become uneconomical to
> operate.  Only a look at the original documents can provide the exact
> answers.  Many family-owned companies are structured this way as a
> means of estate planning.
>
> Given when it was created, I think the Declaration of Trust should be
> in the FCC's files as a matter of public record.  However, the FCC's
> electronic files only go back a few years, so one would have to visit
> The Portals in person and examine the microfiche for the official
> record from when the ownership of the station was restructured.  It's
> possible that a copy may be in the station's Public Inspection File.
>
> -GAWollman
>
>