Regardless of whether you are a Yankees fan or not, we should all pause for a moment to reflect on the valuable contributions that Mr. Steinbrenner has give to baseball. He was a great promoter who heavily invested in his team. He single handedly reshaped the way owners thought about free agency and owning their own television rights. And, perhaps most importantly for other owners, he helped steer baseball into its greatest era of profitability.
George Steinbrenner, and minority partner E. Michael Burke, bought the New York Yankees (and some parking garages) from CBS in January of 1973 for $10 million. In 2009, the Yankees were valued at $1.5 billion by Forbes magazine. I am uncertain as to how much of the franchise Mr. Steinbrenner owned at his death, but according to the Forbes 400, he was worth $1.15 billion in 2009.
It is interesting to note that the Yankees franchise itself is very heavily leveraged, and that most of his wealth is tied up in the YES Network. I'm sure that this was done on purpose so that the franchise could be passed on to his children more easily.
It is a bit gruesome to think about, but by George - he passed away in the correct year as far as taxes go. This year, there is no federal estate tax (unless Congress tries to enact a retroactive tax). Moreover, since Mr. Steinbrenner passed away while he was domiciled in Florida, his estate does not owe a state Estate tax either.
What does this mean? Well - in almost any other year his estate would owe the federal government upwards of $500 million in estate taxes. Instead, his heirs merely have to pay a modified capital gains tax when and if they sell George's assets.
Proper estate planning is important, but sometimes it helps to be lucky too.
