Jobs' Heir To Manage $4.6 Billion Trust of Disney Shares

[Akshay Masand]

After Jobs passed away last month, speculation arose as to what would be done with his estate. As of right now, it is estimated to be worth roughly $7 billion. Recent securities filings revealed that his Disney shares, which represented the majority of his wealth have been placed in a trust. This trust is Disney’s largest shareholder with a 7.7 percent stake in the media conglomerate. The shares were originally acquired by Jobs in 2006 when he sold Pixar to the company for $7.4 billion. At the time, he owned more than half of Pixar’s stock.

Recently, tax experts continue to suggest that Jobs’ family should sell off all of his Apple and Disney stock in order to avoid higher taxes later on while also diversifying their portfolio. Furthermore, according to a recent report from Bloomberg, the family could have saved $867 million in capital gains taxes. Kacy Gott, the Chief Planning Officer at the Wealth-Management firm Aspiriant told the publication that she “can’t see any reason not to sell all of it. They should have been looking to diversify years ago.”

Placing the shares into a trust is a method for mitigating tax exposure on gains made from the shares, although it isn’t clear exactly what type of trust was set up in this case. According to Bloomberg, earlier proxy statements showed that Jobs was in the process of moving his assets into trusts toward the end of his life. The trust is currently estimated to be valued around $4.6 billion. As of right now, people continue to speculate that Powell will use a portion of the trust’s funds for philanthropic work since she’s been an active participant in the non-profit sector and even sits on the board of the Teach for America program. Her next move remains unknown but time will tell what she ends up deciding upon.

Source: Associated Press, Bloomberg

[rockxz3]

They could give it to me

[delusion950]

They could give it to me

Me too! higher taxes? really? havin 7bil nd worryin about taxes? Really? They prob want to take all of their money so threyre suggesting sell stocks. Fu**ing pricks.

[DaLsim]

Rich people dont want to pay taxes? But they paid taxes B4 they was rich?

[mmaboi21]

I already got a cut of it.

[RoloDiva13]

Rich people dont want to pay taxes? But they paid taxes B4 they was rich?

An estimated $867 Million in taxes?? Uhm yeah, I'd be figuring a way to avoid that, too.

[runey71]

Seriously do they really think the family care all that much about saving some tax money whilst they are still mourning the loss of a loved one.

[mofolo]

Rich people dont want to pay taxes? But they paid taxes B4 they was rich?

1-5k of tax for the average income earner is seen as pretty acceptable, plus with less money means less resources such as tax accountants.. but 700 Million? That's a bucket truck load of money. I wouldn't pay that much either!

Plus there are so many loopholes in the tax system - its beneficial for a person with a lot of money to pay $100k for an good accountant than $700Million in taxes!

[powello18]

I'm a Powell
Does that mean im now rich?

[Cellular]

This is the biggest problem with America. How the rich don't pay taxes . I don't know why, they should pay the same taxes per dollar like we do.
8.25% flat tax rate would be equal but not equal at the same time.
Rich people not wanting to pay there share fking a**holes.
"America made them rich, why not give back to the place that got you rich?" hence taxes...tax breaks or not it's not like apple will hire anyone in America. Jobs didnt make jobs...

[delusion950]

Seriously do they really think the family care all that much about saving some tax money whilst they are still mourning the loss of a loved one.

Everyone wants piece of Steve even more now that he passed away.

[mr117]

Seems kind of mean to be making negative comments about people a few weeks after a member of their family dies. It's not their fault they've now got so much money. As to taxes, show me one person on this forum who WANTS to pay taxes. I think we need to, to pay for the services we receive, and to keep the country going, but I sure don't like paying them. No one here does, but they need to be paid. But I bet everyone here makes every attempt possible to NOT pay any more than is absolutely required. We all take our deductions, don't we? Why shouldn't they have the same right? If they want to save money, until the laws change they can use the current tax code as they like. Is it fair or not is another question- if you don't like how taxes are levied disproportionately to the rich and the not rich, tell your elected representative. Or better yet, vote him/her out of office and try another one who hasn't sold his/her soul yet. As to a flat tax, that's a real crock. You make 50K and pay 10%. You have 45K left over. Someone else makes 1M and pays 10%. S/He has 900K left over. You can maybe make your rent and drive a 5-year-old car, they can buy a new house every year and send their kid to Europe to a nice private school. The French Revolution started in part because the First and Second Estates (Nobles and Church-who were also Nobles) paid no taxes and voted against every attempt by the Third Estate (the middle and lower classes) to stop being the ONLY ones paying taxes. But until we change things (with our votes), there is no reason that the Jobs family can't do whatever they want with their money. Oh, and WE gave them that money, when WE bought all the cute things Steve created. It's a bit late now to begrudge them for having the money we gave them, isn't it?

[HCWHunter]

This is the biggest problem with America. How the rich don't pay taxes . I don't know why, they should pay the same taxes per dollar like we do.
8.25% flat tax rate would be equal but not equal at the same time.
Rich people not wanting to pay there share fking a**holes.
"America made them rich, why not give back to the place that got you rich?" hence taxes...tax breaks or not it's not like apple will hire anyone in America. Jobs didnt make jobs...

No, the biggest problem in America is that 47% of the people don't pay ANY income taxes at all. Since they don't have any skin in the game they vote for whoever promises them the most bennies. The top 1% of income earners already pay 37% of the total income taxes. The top 25% pay 86%. How much is enough? As for Apple hiring, they employ over 46,000 employees worldwide, the majority in the U.S. Yes, most products are made or assembled in Asia, but that's true of almost all electronics.

[Donnutt]

No, the biggest problem in America is that 47% of the people don't pay ANY income taxes at all. Since they don't have any skin in the game they vote for whoever promises them the most bennies. The top 1% of income earners already pay 37% of the total income taxes. The top 25% pay 86%. How much is enough? As for Apple hiring, they employ over 46,000 employees worldwide, the majority in the U.S. Yes, most products are made or assembled in Asia, but that's true of almost all electronics.

Thank you for writing the first post in this thread that makes any sense. Until now all I heard was whiny people with entitlement issues.

[cjuni]

This is the biggest problem with America. How the rich don't pay taxes . I don't know why, they should pay the same taxes per dollar like we do.
8.25% flat tax rate would be equal but not equal at the same time.
Rich people not wanting to pay there share fking a**holes.
"America made them rich, why not give back to the place that got you rich?" hence taxes...tax breaks or not it's not like apple will hire anyone in America. Jobs didnt make jobs...

YOU ARE 100% ON THE MONEY!!

That is why we will always be broke & they will always be rich!

[Donnutt]

YOU ARE 100% ON THE MONEY!!

That is why we will always be broke & they will always be rich!

No, you will always be broke because you do not have either the idea, motivation, or gumption to get off your butt and work for it. The fact that you are broke is no one's fault. (but yours)

[mr117]

Well......let's look at the (factual) charts, shall we?