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Lots of **** flying in New Orleans. As I understand it, for some time Tom Benson, who owns the Saints as well as the NBA Pelicans, had intended for ownership to be passed to his grandchildren, with granddaughter Rita in the lead. Tom remarried several years ago, and earlier this week it was revealed that he basically disowned the grandchildren and directed that his wife take over everything after his passing. The grandkids filed suit today claiming Tom has no mental capacity to transfer ownership as he did.

 

Evidently Rita is quite the harridan and, among others, is pretty much hated by Sean Payton and the Saints' GM.

 

Much more here. Wow. Nice not to have an owner.

 

http://www.nola.com/saints/ind...sfers_success_p.html

 

http://www.nola.com/saints/ind...html#incart_breaking

Benson's letter to his daughter, grandkids

 

 

 

Last edited by ilcuqui
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2012 article.

 

Billionaire Tom Benson Benches Granddaughter, Presumed Heir, For Her "Sense Of Entitlement"

 
 4/23/2012 @ 11:12AM
 

Rita Benson LeBlanc with Saints players in 2007.

 

 

It’s been a busy month for billionaire Tom Benson.

The New Orleans Saints owner first had to confront the crippling suspensions handed down to his coaches and front office staff in wake of the BountyGate scandal. Then he orchestrated a $338 million expansion of his sports empire in the city, snatching up the NBA’s Hornets.

But Benson did it all without his granddaughter and presumed heir, Rita Benson LeBlanc. According to an extensive report by Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune that cites a number of unnamed sources, the 35-year-old LeBlanc has been placed on an unofficial paid administrative leave by Benson for the last three months.

LeBlanc, the only other Benson family member in the business, is listed as the Saints Owner/Executive Vice President and had previously seen her public role expand to include representing the team at NFL ownership meetings. She has been with the team since 2000, and has been involved in many aspects of the business, including her father’s real estate developments around the Superdome.

Benson is 85 and was clearly grooming LeBlanc as his replacement, but that apparently did not keep him from acting, according to the Times-Picayune:

 

Benson, according to sources, reached a breaking point near the end of the 2011 season and felt it was necessary to deliver a wake-up call to his 35-year-old granddaughter. No single incident led to the action, they said. Instead, Benson saw it as a pattern of behavior that needed to be corrected.

Unnamed sources cited LeBlanc’s “lack of focus and abrasive management style.” Apparently she has gone through 30 personal assistants just in the last six years, a stunning figure if accurate. While she was complimented for her talent and smarts, LeBlanc’s sense of entitlement was what irked her grandfather, according to the report.

Benson certainly isn’t the first billionaire to have trouble with his anointed successor. Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart, who’s worth almost 18 times Benson, is actively trying to shut out her three eldest children from their inheritance, calling them “manifestly unsuitable” for managing that kind of money. “It would be in the best interests of the beneficiaries to force them to go to work and reconsider their holidaying lifestyles and attitudes,” she said.

It’s unclear whether the problems between Benson and his granddaughter will ever get that serious. Perhaps this wake-up call will jolt LeBlanc into being a more responsible corporate executive and worthy heiress down the road. If not, we could have more drama down in the Big Easy.

Last edited by FreeSafety

Ms. Princess Rita went through 13 assistants in a year firing on average 1 a month with the Saints before Grand Dad finally figured out it wasn't the assistants....it was his self entitled spoiled bit** granddaughter who was the issue.

 

Not the biggest fan of Peyton by any means, but from what I read on her before and in talking with Saints fans on my trips to N.O., this chick was bat schit crazy. Many many a Saints fan were convinced upon Tom's death, she would run that franchise right into the schitter.

 

Who knows if his wife will be a decent future owner, but appears pretty girl Miss Rita would be a disaster.

quote:
Suddenly after I remarried you all became offensive
I don't know anything about the daughter or grandson, but if all of them suddnely became "offensive", it sounds like Grandpa or the new wife might have had something to do with that.
Originally Posted by Dr._Bob:

This reminds me of when I came home with a bag of Cheetos and all my kids wanted some.  Leeches.

 

 

Did you sign over your classic Pacer to the bag of Cheetos?  

Originally Posted by trump:
Most important, what's beef think of the granddaughter?
Hell, what's he think of the new wife?

:winning:

 

there's really an nba team called the pelicans? 

Coincidentally, I was reading "The Island of Dr. Moreau" today, and came across the line "It met its persecutor with a shriek almost exactly like that of an angry virago."   Had to look up "virago".  By context I was thinking some kind of animal, but no, to my surprise the definition was "

a domineering, violent, or bad-tempered woman."  Synonyms include harridan, shrew, dragon, and termagant.  And now maybe "Rita Benson LeBlanc".
 
Originally Posted by xyx111:

Coincidentally, I was reading "The Island of Dr. Moreau" today, and came across the line "It met its persecutor with a shriek almost exactly like that of an angry virago."   Had to look up "virago".  By context I was thinking some kind of animal, but no, to my surprise the definition was "

a domineering, violent, or bad-tempered woman."  Synonyms include harridan, shrew, dragon, and termagant.  And now maybe "Rita Benson LeBlanc".
 

Huh.  And here I thought virago was just the name of a motorcycle.

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