When we last visited with Frank and Jamie McCourt, they were in a court hearing regarding Jamie’s petition to set aside their divorce settlement. Once again, the Dodgers baseball team was at the center of the dispute; this time, however, it was not the ownership of the club but its value.
We wrote about the hearing in May. By early September, a few things became clear. First, the Dodgers would probably make it to post-season play. Second, Chicago’s teams … probably not. And, third, the court had flatly denied Jamie’s petition.
Jamie claimed that Frank had undervalued the Dodgers during their property division negotiations in 2011. By August that year, the court had determined that the couple’s postnuptial agreement regarding the ownership of the Dodgers was invalid. The team was in bankruptcy, and Major League Baseball had taken over. Frank’s financial situation looked a little precarious.
Toward the end of 2011, the couple announced that they had settled. Jamie reportedly agreed to accept $131 million in cash in addition to the couple’s several homes in exchange for any claim to the team. A few months later, Frank sold the Dodgers for $2.15 billion, a record price that analysts said was linked to the value of the team’s regional sports network.
A few months after that, Jamie petitioned the court to throw out the property division settlement she had agreed to. She claimed Frank was aware of the “true” value of the team and deliberately kept the information from her.
In a 57-page opinion, the court said that Jamie had “no credible evidence” to support the allegations. Further, the court said, Jamie was CEO of the Dodgers for years and was involved with valuations of the team and the RSN. None of this could have been a surprise, according to the ruling, and Jamie’s protestations to the contrary were simply “not credible.”
With this ruling, the McCourt divorce is finally settled. But we’ve said that before.
Source: Los Angeles Times, “Jamie McCourt loses bid to throw out Dodgers divorce deal,” Bill Shaikin, Sep. 9, 2013
