MORRISTOWN — A state appeals court has declined to hear the Wilf family's arguments against publicly revealing its net worth.
The Wilfs, who own the Minnesota Vikings, were trying to appeal a ruling by
Superior Court Judge Deanne Wilson, sitting in Morristown, who in September ordered them to make the financial disclosure and also ruled the Wilfs must pay $84.5 million in damages to two spurned business partners in a Montville apartment complex.
The Wilfs had opposed release of their net worth on grounds that it constituted an invasion of their privacy and might cause people to target their children and grandchildren. The Wilfs’ legal team accused Wilson of “an anti-wealth bias that gave undue weight to public curiosity.”
The one-page order by the two-judge appeals panel did not give a reason for denying the Wilfs’ motion.
But the appeals court allowed the Wilfs’ net worth to remain sealed until Wilson enters final orders in the case, which could happen by the end of the week or sometime next week.
And if the Wilfs get their way, their net worth won’t be released even then.
The Wilfs’ lead attorney, Sheppard Guryan, said he will ask Wilson to delay releasing the net worth, pending the Wilfs’ full appeal of the case. Guryan has vowed to appeal all of Wilson’s rulings that followed a two-year trial.
Guryan saw a silver lining in the appeals court decision.
“The Appellate Division at least felt the stay should be continued until the entry of final judgment. It was not clearly a refusal to ever hear the issue,” he said.
Wilson made the $84.5 million award after determining that Vikings principal owner Zygmunt “Zygi” Wilf, his brother, Mark, and their cousin, Leonard, systematically cheated Josef Halpern and his sister, Ada Reichmann, out of revenues from the 764-unit Rachel Gardens apartment complex for more than 20 years. It is one of 225 apartment complexes owned by the Wilfs, whose real estate business is based in Short Hills.
Wilson said she would use the net worth figure to calculate the damages against the Wilfs and said the public has a right to know the figure upon which she based her award. “The judiciary should be transparent,” she said, noting that many citizens think the wealthy get preferential treatment in the court system.
In a hearing expected to last Wednesday through Friday, attorneys for the Wilfs and their partners will argue over the final figures to be awarded for damages, attorneys fees’ and costs in the case.
Last month, a special master appointed by Wilson recommended that the Wilfs pay an additional $15.1 million to cover attorneys’ fees and other costs incurred by Halpern and Reichmann.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Wilson will issue a final judgment that will include the damages, attorneys fees, costs and release of the Wilfs’ net worth – all of which the Wilfs are seeking to delay pending their appeal of the 21-year-old case.
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