The long-running battle for James Brownβs estate has finally been resolvedβkind ofβwith a very lucrative deal. As previously reported by The Root, the late soul iconβs heirs and estate administrator Russell Bauknight teased a resolution to the approximately 15-year war in July, issuing a statement that βThe matter has been settled,β but disclosing no further details. On Tuesday, the New York Times confirmed a settlement nearly four years in the making had at last been finalized, reporting that New York-based estate and song catalog marketing company Primary Wave will be acquiring the estateβs assetsβ βincluding music rights, real estate and the control over Brownβs name and likenessββin a deal estimated to be worth $90 million.
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Most importantly, it honors the singerβs wishes for the bulk of his estate to benefit children in need through a scholarship program. More from the Times:
Larry Mestel, the founder of Primary Wave β which did a similar deal for half of Whitney Houstonβs estate, and owns the largest interest in Princeβs β envisions an array of new projects to honor Brownβs legacy and promote his music to new generations of fans. Those may include a Broadway musical, television shows and the creation of a Graceland-like museum attraction at Brownβs mansion in South Carolina, he said...
The price of the deal was not disclosed, but is estimated at about $90 million. The money from the transaction will be used to endow the Brown scholarship trust βin perpetuity,β said Russell L. Bauknight, a public accountant who has served as the estateβs personal representative, or executor, since 2009. He said that once the estate is closed, he will continue to work with Primary Wave as a member of a board handling some of Brownβs assets.
Primary Wave has further committed to allocating a βsmall percentageβ of potential future deals to the scholarship program, which will benefit underserved children in Brownβs birth state of South Carolina and childhood home of Georgia. As noted by the Times, the settlement βis a major move toward realizing Mr. Brownβs dream of financing the scholarships, a dream delayed by one of the longest and most contentious estate conflicts in entertainment.β
Specifically, the resolution marks the end of over a decade of disputes between Bauknight, former executor Adele Pope, and Brownβs heirsβincluding five of his children and presumed wife Tommie Rae Hynie (ruled last year not be married to Brown, as she had not dissolved a prior marriage). One of the major issues? Conflicting estimates of the worth of Brownβs estate, which Bauknight placed at approximately $5 million at the time of the singerβs death, disputing Popeβs valuation of $84 million prior to being βremoved from her position in 2009.
Each has reportedly accused the other of attempting to profit from their roles in the estate; suits which remain under appeal. In reference to Primary Waveβs purported purchase of the estate, Bauknight defended himself against Popeβs ultimately more accurate valuation, telling the Times his initial estimate was consistent with the worth of Brownβs estate at the time and gleaned from expert advisors on the matter.
Additionally, Brownβs heirs had hoped to forego his will in favor of negotiating a settlement which would allocate them βsignificant shares of the estate,β a wish initially granted in 2009 by a South Carolina state judge and former Attorney General (now Governor) Henry McMaster. However, the dispute raged on as the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned the settlement in 2013, on the grounds that it was a βdismemberment of Brownβs carefully crafted estate plan.β In 2014, McMaster told the Times the conflict was βas big a tangle as youβve ever seen.β
The terms of Primary Waveβs deal with the estate are confidential, but Bauknight confirmed its sole beneficiaries as the aforementioned scholarships and two educational trusts for Brownβs grandchildren limited at about $2 million. While Bauknight estimated the granting of the scholarships should begin by late 2022, none of those funds will be dispersed until his own suits with Pope are settled, as the ongoing legal fight effectively freezes any assets.
As for Primary Wave, the company may currently be best known for its recent involvement in Houstonβs estate, including a controversial hologram tour of the late songstress, as well as another biopic of the star and proposed Broadway show. The Times reports the company, which Mestel claims holds βabout $1.8 billion in assets,β has also inked deals with the estates of Luther Vandross and Teddy Pendergrass.
βItβs time to bring in someone of Larryβs expertise to take [Brownβs estate] to the next level,β said Bauknight. βWeβre looking at this as more of a partnership moving forward.β
βJames Brown was one of the greatest musical entertainers of all time, and one of the greatest legends of the music business,β Mestel told the Times. βThat fits what we do like a glove.β
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