kelloggs5TLfan
Team Owner
http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2007/05/21/scene_daily629.html
When Dale Earnhardt Jr. demanded 51 percent ownership of Dale Earnhardt Inc., it might have seemed logical that the son of the team founder would already own part of the company.
So why doesn't he? Because the will of his father, the seven-time Cup champion killed on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, didn't give him an ownership stake in the team.
Earnhardt's will, signed in December 1992, awards 100 percent of DEI to his widow, Teresa, Dale Jr.'s stepmother.
The estate filings, which were probated in Iredell County, N.C., show that Teresa Earnhardt owns the race team.
According to the estate inventory, Earnhardt Sr. owned 100 percent of the stock in DEI, which was formed in 1980, two years before his marriage to Teresa.
Earnhardt Sr. gives Teresa the power "to retain and carry on any business or property in which I may own an interest at the time of my death." Part of the assignment of assets approved by the court about 13 months after his death includes a provision that Teresa gets "all of the stock owned by decedent in Dale Earnhardt Inc."
Typically, owners of companies leave their entire company to their spouse to avoid paying significant estate taxes they would incur if part of the company was given to the children.
There is a trust, which was likely set up to pay bills while the will was being probated. There could also be a trust set up for Earnhardt's children, but that is not clear in the court documents.
Dale Earnhardt Sr. had four children - Kerry from his first marriage, Kelley and Dale from his second marriage and Taylor from his marriage to Teresa.
When the will was created, DEI was not the three-car Nextel Cup team that it is today. It mostly ran Busch Series races with Dale Earnhardt Sr. as the driver.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. began competing in the Busch Series full time for the team in 1998, the same year that the team began competing regularly in Cup.
For more on his story, read this week's issue of NASCAR Scene.
When Dale Earnhardt Jr. demanded 51 percent ownership of Dale Earnhardt Inc., it might have seemed logical that the son of the team founder would already own part of the company.
So why doesn't he? Because the will of his father, the seven-time Cup champion killed on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, didn't give him an ownership stake in the team.
Earnhardt's will, signed in December 1992, awards 100 percent of DEI to his widow, Teresa, Dale Jr.'s stepmother.
The estate filings, which were probated in Iredell County, N.C., show that Teresa Earnhardt owns the race team.
According to the estate inventory, Earnhardt Sr. owned 100 percent of the stock in DEI, which was formed in 1980, two years before his marriage to Teresa.
Earnhardt Sr. gives Teresa the power "to retain and carry on any business or property in which I may own an interest at the time of my death." Part of the assignment of assets approved by the court about 13 months after his death includes a provision that Teresa gets "all of the stock owned by decedent in Dale Earnhardt Inc."
Typically, owners of companies leave their entire company to their spouse to avoid paying significant estate taxes they would incur if part of the company was given to the children.
There is a trust, which was likely set up to pay bills while the will was being probated. There could also be a trust set up for Earnhardt's children, but that is not clear in the court documents.
Dale Earnhardt Sr. had four children - Kerry from his first marriage, Kelley and Dale from his second marriage and Taylor from his marriage to Teresa.
When the will was created, DEI was not the three-car Nextel Cup team that it is today. It mostly ran Busch Series races with Dale Earnhardt Sr. as the driver.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. began competing in the Busch Series full time for the team in 1998, the same year that the team began competing regularly in Cup.
For more on his story, read this week's issue of NASCAR Scene.
