Ignoramus18915 on Fri, 30 Jul
2010 10:14:18 -0500 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
On 2010-07-30, RBnDFW wrote:
Ignoramus5687 wrote:
On 2010-07-30, Larry Jaques wrote:
On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:43:22 -0400, Wes
wrote the following:

RBnDFW wrote:

"When he founded Harbor Freight Tools four decades ago, it?s unlikely
Allan Smidt expected it would end like it did this spring, when his own
son had an executive walk him out the door and lock him out of the
building."

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/jul/...ts-of-looting/
Assuming above story is factually correct, this is one of the few times I approve of post
term abortion
ROTFLSHIAPMP! Megadittoes.


This is also a good example why estate tax is a good idea. Just
because his son was made from his sperm, does not automatically make
him most qualified to run the business or "worthy" of being able to
command as much as his dad did.

So you think the government is the better heir?

Maybe it is not "better", but it prevents or at least reduces
perpetual dynasties that have nothing to do with merit.

If only it did. The reality is that the tax laws are set up in
just such a manner as to allow the really rich (Joseph Kennedy) to
pass the money down to the next generation and escape the tax hit of
the death taxes. Trust funds are wonderful things- they save you the
humiliation of having to actually _work_ for a living.
That the Schmidt company is privately held is just another way of
doing the same thing - it is the corporation which makes all the
money, not the 'stock holders'. Heck, lawyers use the trick all the
time - John Edwards drew a modest salary from his law firm, which got
the checks from all the settlements. At the end of the quarter, John
also got a nice dividend, along with all the other stock holders.

There is a saying "dirt to dirt in three generations". That
unless the second generation shows the same drive and skills as the
first one, the third one often finds itself "back on the farm".
Granted, it sometimes takes more than two generations to squander a
great fortune, but ... anybody know how the Vanderbilt are doing? The
Astors, Cabots & Lodges? Henry Ford?

That you don't like inherited wealth doesn't matter. You can give
it all away - and not take the tax deduction.
--
pyotr filipivich
We will drink no whiskey before its nine.
It's eight fifty eight. Close enough!