As the only child of New York’s beloved white-gloved philanthropist Brooke Astor, Anthony Marshall spent years preoccupied with how much he would inherit from his mother, who eventually died at age 105 in 2007. He envisioned a life in which he and his much younger third wife, Charlene, would not only live well but also have the pleasure of passing out the tens of millions left behind by his stepfather Vincent Astor, wielding clout on boards like the Metropolitan Museum.But on Wednesday, Marshall, who was convicted three years ago of defrauding his mother’s estate, agreed to accept a settlement of a relatively paltry (for him) $14.4 million. Not only is this less than half of the riches that he expected, but the 87-year-old former ambassador also gave up all rights to distribute his mother’s charitable legacy. Since the four law firms that handled his criminal trial and probate fight have filed judgments totaling $11.6 million against him, he will not be awash in cash. “Mr. Marshall is pleased that a settlement has been reached,” his longtime lawyer Kenneth Warner wrote in a statement. “He is almost 88 years old and much prefers closure to an expensive and protracted litigation over his mother’s estate.”
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The Astor Settlement: Anthony Marshall’s Friends and Family React
6 comments:
Only a paltry few million? Boo-hoo!
The guy should have rotted in jail.
What about Philip? I hope he was rewarded for turning in his old man.
I feel sorry that it all came to what it did. Anthony got greedy and I guess it's a reminder that for the greedy, there's never enough.
So sad to read how a fortune was handled. I can't imagine the legal fees and all that goes with settling estates.
When is enough money enough? It sounds like love of money turns into an illness, an obsession.
Phillip stepped up doing the right thing at the right time.
May God Bless Phillip.
Philip did step up and in this case, used guardianship to protect his grandmother. Of course, with the vast wealth involved, fees for that action wouldn't have mattered.
I do wonder what the final totals for fees were.
Unfortunately none of us have the luxury of Henry Kissinger or Barbara Walters testifying in [the elder's] defense. What is sad but true, if you are very wealthy, have contacts with the political elite or media savvy, and/or are a celebrity (Micky Rooney) you will be freed from the horrors of guardianship abuses or abuses of the elderly and disabled. If your the average elder or disabled person, with a life savings of wealth, then the media won't pick up your story and there's little if any hope.
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