NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson settled a federal lawsuit over a family trust Friday that was scheduled to go to trial on Monday in New Orleans.
Terms of the settlement will remain confidential, according to a statement by the Saints. But the settlement should clear Benson's path to make his wife, Gayle, the official successor to his sports franchises in place of his daughter and grandchildren.
It also means that the billionaire will not be required to testify in open court next week. And it means that private financial records of both teams and the NFL and NBA will be kept under wraps after the judge had previously denied requests to keep them confidential.
"The parties have informed the National Football League and the National Basketball Association of the terms related to the framework of the settlement," the Saints statement read. "Operations for all Tom Benson business properties including the New Orleans Saints, the New Orleans Pelicans, WVUE-FOX 8, automotive dealerships and Benson Tower remain 'business as usual.'"
Benson, 88, has been battling his spurned heirs in various court battles since he announced plans to oust them as successors to his business empire in January of 2015.
A large number of non-voting shares of both teams were part of family trusts that had been set up for daughter Renee LeBlanc and grandchildren Rita and Ryan. Benson was allowed to replace those shares as long as he replaced them with assets of equal value. However, the trustees guarding those funds claimed that Benson was not offering equal value -- which led to the federal lawsuit.
"We are pleased that an agreement has been reached and that these important issues are close to an amicable resolution," the trustees said in a statement Friday. "As trustees, our objectives all along have been to protect the integrity of the trusts and to reassure the public that the Saints and Pelicans will continue to call New Orleans home. We look forward to memorializing a final agreement in consultation with the leagues."
Benson's spurned heirs also sued him last year in a New Orleans civil court, claiming that he was not mentally competent to run his businesses and he was under the undue influence of Gayle and members of the Saints organization. However, their lawsuit was rejected, and their appeals were also denied earlier this year.
Gayle is Benson's third wife, whom he married in 2004. She has participated more in recent league meetings as Tom Benson has begun to groom her as his eventual replacement. She reportedly played a role in New Orleans' Super Bowl pitch at the most recent meetings, for example.
Both the NFL and NBA will still have to approve Benson's revised succession plan, though there are no longer any major legal hurdles that should stand in the way of that.
