Carroll Shelby - Wife vs. Kids in WAR Over Auto Legend's Body

[jerseygator]

This is the agreement that defines the original 4 shares...

 

Michael Shelby maintained during an interview Monday that his father, in front of seven witnesses, signed a document this year directing that his remains be divided between his (3 shares) living children and a plot of land in Texas (the 4th share). He described the settlement as a necessary compromise, and Tubb said both sides agreed that a deal was better than a court fight.

 

When they say "instead of four" I would make the assumption it is a reference to the original agreement claimed above. Therefore the "extra share" is the 5th one for Cleo.

 

Both sides said Monday they were close to reaching a formal settlement, heading off a civil trial scheduled for Thursday. They said the agreement will allow Shelby's body to be cremated, but with the ashes split five ways instead of four, with an extra share for Cleo Shelby.

 

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/23/apnewsbreak-shelby-to-be-buried-as-dispute-ends/#ixzz21XVhvBp1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/23/apnewsbreak-shelby-to-be-buried-as-dispute-ends/#ixzz21XUuIpQG

[SHELBYCS6]

I understood it to be the "original 4 shares" were 3 for each kid and one for the E Texas ranch. The 5th share was the extra share. Meaning only one share goes to Cleo. Could be wrong...

 

 

This is what I understood as well..

[stormeaston]

What a circus.

[brianspony]

 

• 
  

 

[2010KonaBlueGT]

This is what I understood as well..

 

 

Same here. The "extra" share, being the ONE Cleo gets.

 

 

What a circus.

 

 

Just wait until the fight over his estate starts!

 

Ta hell with the $6 million in the bank for the CSCF, ONE of his cars alone (Cobra $1) is worth at least $20 million. And that was when he was alive.

 

 

Phill

[Tx Shelby]

Glad to see that Carrol will now be laid to rest , maybe they will have 2 places for us all to go and pay our respect. Texas and California

[07SGT]

Just curious. Is Cleo on the board of the foundation and is it a paid position? What would it take to remove her from the board, hypothetically of course.

[Grabber]

 

 

 

 

>>>i'm sorry, but that is funny.

[2010KonaBlueGT]

Just curious. Is Cleo on the board of the foundation and is it a paid position? What would it take to remove her from the board, hypothetically of course.

 

 

Yes, Cleo is listed as a Director, on the Board of Directors for the Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation.

 

There were only 2 Officers listed last time I checked, Carroll Shelby (President) and Jon Conway (Secretary?). I thought it a little strange that; A. There were only 4 Board members listed (generally you want 3, 5, 7 or 9, a odd number so you don't have a tie vote) and; B. There were only 2 Officers listed. Typically there are 3 or 4 Officers on a BoD (1. President, 2. Vice President, 3. Secretary/Treasurer (or) 3. Secretary *and* 4. Treasurer).

 

Removal of a Director is not usually something real easy to do. It generally involves a simple majority vote of the Share Holders.

 

Removal of a Officer is usually as easy as a majority vote from the BoD (Officers are usually *appointed* by the Directors and Directors are Voted on by the membership). But removing someone as a Officer does not remove them as a Director.

 

You would have to see the by-laws to know the exact process involved because many Board are different from others.

 

Unless Cleo was the VP and not listed, it would probably take a vote of Directors to make her the President. HOWEVER, I am not sure if her relationship to Carroll gives her the legal right to take over his vacated position (due to Community Property laws). I don't know how that works in a legal sense and I don't know if their state of residence was a Community Property State or not.

 

 

Phill

[07SGT]

Interesting. Sad. But interesting. It certainly appears the Shelby family appeared to only compromise because Cleo would not allow the burial of CS as in his last wishes. She wanted him buried in CA. However, as soon as she got a share of the ashes she was willing to allow his children to have the majority share of the ashes and to allow for a portion to be buried in TX with his parents. Right or wrong, I think she appears in a very, very, poor light to many. I am curious if her position with the foundation is paid.

[07SGT]

here's some info I found online:

 

 

December 13, 2007

 

SHELBY "CHARITY" BLASTED BY AUTO INDUSTRY "BIBLE"

 

What many in the car world have talked about in hushed tones for many years is now officially in print and open to investigation and interpretation. For several years, since his heart transplant surgery at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles (actually, it's officially in Beverly Hills), sports car legend Carroll Shelby has been raising a lot of money for groups supporting heart transplants needed by kids and heart diseases affecting children. Yet the charity has paid-out an average of just 5.25% annually to qualified recipients between 2002 and 2005, years for which tax records are available, according to the following article. Kathy Jackson, a west coast writer for Crain Communications, which publishes both Automotive News, considered the weekly "bible" of the worldwide auto industry, and AutoWeek, America's only weekly publication focusing on motor racing and high-performance vehicles, has written what amounts to a scathing indictment of Carroll Shelby's Children's Foundation, formed in 1991. Below is the text of that article.

Carroll Shelby's charity takes in plenty but skimps on the giving

 

Kathy Jackson

 

Automotive News | 12:01 am, July 23, 2007

LOS ANGELES -- As Carroll Shelby lay in Cedars Sinai hospital here in 1990, awaiting a heart transplant, he was horrified by the number of children around him who desperately needed lifesaving organs.

"Two boys on either side of me passed away because they did not receive a transplant in time," the legendary car guy has said.

As he grieved for the children, Shelby prayed - promising that if he received a heart and survived he would do something to help other kids. He got the transplant and in 1991 formed the Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation.

Its mission: help pay medical expenses for families with children in need of organ and tissue transplants or suffering from acute cardiac disorders. It also gives money to organizations researching coronary disease and organ transplants.

Among other things, the foundation has raised funds through the sale of memorabilia signed by Shelby and, lately, the auctioning of classic Ford cars. But in recent years, Shelby's charity in Gardena, Calif., has picked up a reputation for giving out only a tiny fraction of the money that it takes in.

Falling shortA watchdog group formed by the Better Business Bureau says charitable grants should account for at least 65% of a charitable organization's total expenses. Here's how the Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation stacks up for 2002-05.TOTAL EXPENSESGRANTS%2002$164,178$10,2006.22003$399,618$ 17,2994.32004$308,941$40,300132005$286,375$24,9448 .7Source: Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation tax returns

Indeed, the reputation seems well-deserved. A review of the foundation's tax documents shows that from 2002 through 2005, its net assets grew from $1.6 million to $2.9 million. Yet in each of those years less than 1 percent of assets was given out as grants - a level that charity professionals say is embarrassingly low.

 

Not a foundation guy

 

Shelby, 84, is a world-class car guy. As a race car driver in the 1950s, he broke land speed records at Bonneville for Austin Healey and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He later designed cars and in the 1960s conceived the Shelby Cobra sports car and later the Shelby Mustangs he built for Ford.

 

But it seems he is far from the world's best foundation chief. He has run his public charity on the fly with just his closest business associates and hasn't been putting the money to its intended use. Shelby and his wife, Cleo, started the foundation, tried to make the decisions themselves - and then appear to have neglected it. But the foundation's administrators say they have begun to professionalize the operation.

 

No one has accused Shelby or the foundation staff of misappropriating money. But Shelby's administrators admit that the organization has been run too loosely and hasn't doled out enough funds.

 

In 2005, the latest year for which tax returns are available, the foundation took in $594,062 in contributions and gave out only $24,944 in grants. More than half of that money went to two charities: the National Institute of Transplantation, which received $10,000, and St. Vincent Meals on Wheels, which received $5,000.

 

Recently, much larger sums have started to roll in - mainly because of a new partnership with Ford Motor Co. Since 2006, Ford has donated four vehicles that have brought in about $1.76 million from auctions and raffle sales. Yet the foundation still isn't doing much with the proceeds.

 

Shelby declined to be interviewed. But John Luft, president of Carroll Shelby Licensing Inc., says the problems are being addressed. He insists that Jenni Shreeves, the foundation's executive director since 2004, and new corporate partner Ford Motor Co. are making much-needed improvements.

 

5% rule

 

Nonprofit organizations endowed by private individuals or corporations are required to give at least 5 percent of their total assets to charities annually, says Kelly Simone, a lawyer with the Council on Foundations in Washington. The law is intended to prevent parking otherwise taxable funds in nonprofits.

 

The Shelby foundation has donated far less than 5 percent, although it is not bound by the same regulations. Shelby's charity avoids the 5 percent rule because it gets all its funds from public donations. Shelby has not put his own money into the foundation.

Carroll Shelby's baby

Name: Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation

Located: Gardena, Calif.

Founded: 1991

Legal status: Public 501 © nonprofit organization.

Mission: To help pay medical expenses for children in need of organ and tissue transplants or with acute cardiac disorders

2005 net assets: $2,877,900

The foundation also has fallen far short of voluntary standards set by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, an Arlington, Va., organization that helps donors make informed judgments about charities.

 

The alliance says that at least 65 percent of an organization's total expenses should go for grants. In the case of the Shelby foundation, grants represented no more than 13 percent of expenses in any of the four years for which tax documents were reviewed.

 

Alliance COO Bennett Weiner said the expenses don't appear to be out of line; the organization just isn't spending much of what it takes in.

 

Weiner says at least two-thirds of all charitable organizations adhere to the alliance's entire list of 20 standards. Among the guidelines is having at least a five-member board of directors. Shelby's board has had

 

only three members - Shelby, his wife and Neil Cummings, general counsel for Shelby Automobiles Inc. The board recently expanded to five members - adding Luft, Shelby's licensing chief, and Amy Boylan, president of Shelby Automobiles.

 

Luft said the foundation plans to comply with another alliance guideline: scheduling regular deliberations on grant allocations. Starting this month, he said, twice-a-year meetings will be held to decide where proceeds will be donated.

 

In addition, the foundation retained Wells Fargo Bank to help set up an endowment fund and better manage its money.

 

"Prior to bringing Jenni on, the foundation had no direction," said Luft, referring to Shreeves, the executive director. "There was no infrastructure. It was Carroll's little foundation, and we had a modest amount to give out."

 

Last year, Shreeves, a full-time employee, launched the group's first national fund-raising campaign when it raffled off a vintage Cobra. The result: the sale of $485,000 in raffle tickets - almost as much as the nonprofit took in through all of 2005. This year, the foundation is raffling a Ford Shelby GT500 donated by Ford.

 

Before Ford began donating cars, almost half of the foundation's revenue came from individuals who contributed $100 to $200 in exchange for Shelby-autographed memorabilia.

 

"The corporate sponsorship from Ford has taken us way up," said Luft, 51, a former Walt Disney and Hilton executive. Now, he said, the charity has a responsibility to Ford to account for how the proceeds are used.

 

Together again

 

After a nearly 30-year separation, Ford and Carroll Shelby went back into business together in 2005. Ford hired Shelby to help with development of a Mustang variant that went on sale last summer as the Ford Shelby GT500. Ford's sponsorship of the Shelby charity was a natural outgrowth of the new collaboration.

 

Ford spokeswoman Whitney Drake says the cooperation with Shelby's foundation is a good fit.

 

"Carroll is the oldest double-organ recipient," Drake said. Shelby received the heart transplant and later a kidney from his son, Mike, in 1996. "If he

 

hadn't benefited from his transplants, he wouldn't be with us today to help us collaborate on new products. This is another way for us to give back."

 

So far in 2007, the foundation has received $725,000 in cash through the auction of two Ford-donated Shelby GTs. Ford sold them at a Barrett-Jackson auction and then turned the proceeds over to the foundation.

Auction modelsA partnership with Ford Motor Co. has boosted the revenues of the Carroll Shelby Children’s Foundation. Donations of Ford cars have reaped big bucks at Barrett-Jackson auctions.DONATIONHOW SOLDPROCEEDS20062005 Ford GT coupeauction$530,00020072007 Ford Shelby GTauction$600,00020072007 Ford Shelby GT-Hauction$125,00020072007 Ford Shelby GT500raffle$500,000**Estimated proceeds from Aug. 18, 2007, raffle

The charity expects to reap at least $500,000 from raffle tickets it is selling for the donated 2007 Ford Shelby GT500. The winner will be announced Aug. 18.

 

"Only since our partnership with Ford have we had this kind of money," Luft said. "This is a learning curve. So you may see a low percent of money going out now so we can reach our endowment goal. Our bank (Wells Fargo) is helping us decide that (goal). None of us are schooled or trained in that area.

 

"Before, Carroll and Cleo would decide randomly" who would get the money, Luft said. "Carroll would basically give it to organizations that he knew, but he really was committed to giving back."

 

Small staff

 

According to tax documents, Shreeves earned $68,618 in 2005 as the foundation's only full-time employee. The staff now consists of three full-timers - Shreeves, her assistant and a project director who oversees the shipping of the autographed memorabilia. The foundation's directors receive no compensation.

 

Shreeves, a 34-year-old public relations specialist, has a nephew who had open heart surgery at birth. Now she is working with outreach groups such as the Children's Organ Transplant Association to help identify qualified grant recipients.

 

Most of the foundation's grants have been made to organizations in Los Angeles such as the National Institute of Transplantation, which does research on organ transplants, trains surgeons and conducts community and patient education programs. The institute was awarded three grants from 2002 through 2005 totaling $25,000. (Photo -- Lee Iacocca and Carroll Shelby).

 

On June 22, the foundation announced its first grant this year: a $10,000 donation to the Children's Medical Center in Dallas for the care of an 18-month-old girl born with a heart defect.

 

But with its new board of directors meeting this month for the first time, Luft said, the Shelby foundation is ready to join "the major leagues."

 

"Everything being done today is to make sure the foundation lives beyond Carroll," he said. "So we're looking at how we endow. Someday we won't have the autograph program. So this is the team that may effectively take the foundation over after Carroll is gone."

 

-end-

 

 

Posted on December 13, 2007 at 05:25 PM in INDUSTRY PERSONALITIES | Permalin

__________________

[Grabber]

I have read many of those articles over the years and it made me wonder why they gave out so little.

 

Maybe it is a way to make the foundation last forever. This way it will not run out of money, but it would seem to defeat the purpose.

[twobjshelbys]

So I'm curious exactly what makes you think you are qualified to intervene or otherwise try to control Carroll's foundation?

 

I, me, myself, made one of the largest private contributions, and acknowledged doing so (most were anonymous) to the foundation and I seriously want to see it survive. But any foundation depends on having an asset base with income to support the donations they give. Organ transplants, and the research and support systems for family members, are notoriously expensive. Recently Carroll restructured the foundation from the children's (organ transplant oriented) focus to add education, especially in automobile related education, to the foundation's goals. I seriously hope that Carroll made sure that the foundation becomes self sustaining, Frankly, I would love to see someone in 30 or 40 years that benefited from a Shelby Foundation grant have the honor or prestige of someone like Peter Brock or Camilo Pardo.

 

But singling out Cleo and second guessing her motives here make me sick.

 

P.S. I will add that I've been told by a highly placed individual at Barrett Jackson that mine was the largest private donation to date.

[David Hawkins]

I thought the Goal, over the last few Years was to build up the Coffer and run the Charity off the Interest so it could keep on going after Shelby passed. If you gave out 65% (or more) then you would eventually run out of Money and have to close up.

[BIKEBOY]

I suggest you remove this and we all honor the legend and let the heirs work this out privately

 

Thank You VERY much Michael!!!!

 

He's right Rob!! You do have the power to do so...

[Grabber]

Thank You VERY much Michael!!!!

 

He's right Rob!! You do have the power to do so...

 

 

Censorship on TS is a thing of the past Chris. Besides that fact....all the info posted here is no secret. It's all over the web.

[twobjshelbys]

I thought the Goal, over the last few Years was to build up the Coffer and run the Charity off the Interest so it could keep on going after Shelby passed. If you gave out 65% (or more) then you would eventually run out of Money and have to close up.

 

 

All of the funds from signatures went to the foundation, $300-ish at a time, and at that rate it would have taken a lot of signatures. Many foundations are self sustaining. For example, the Nobel prizes are awarded annually at $100K each from the income of the foundation. But it takes a boatload of money to yield anything these days, and foundations need stable investments not risky ones. I hope our donation went a ways to making the foundation self sustaining, but with the value of today's money it's hard to think it earns enough to pay for more than some textbooks or small tools, and transplants are way beyond it. Hopefully we'll see how Carroll supported the foundation after his passing.

[David Hawkins]

All of the funds from signatures went to the foundation, $300-ish at a time, and at that rate it would have taken a lot of signatures. Many foundations are self sustaining. For example, the Nobel prizes are awarded annually at $100K each from the income of the foundation. But it takes a boatload of money to yield anything these days, and foundations need stable investments not risky ones. I hope our donation went a ways to making the foundation self sustaining, but with the value of today's money it's hard to think it earns enough to pay for more than some textbooks or small tools, and transplants are way beyond it. Hopefully we'll see how Carroll supported the foundation after his passing.

 

 

Yeah, I think I read where they were wanting to have $11M to $15M in the Bank to help make it Self Sustaining. I think it was close to that a couple of Years ago from the B-J Auctions. I think the Article also said that the "Admin %" was really really low.

[07SGT]

At least Ford is now helping the Foundation with the donation of special vehicles for auctions. As far as questioning a person's motives or intents that is perfectly legal and appropriate, especially for public figures. When you have Cleo going against the last wishes of CS, as stated in the signed affidavit, and against the wishes of his children one really must ask why. It is a legitimate question, even if one has not made huge donations to the charity. Everyone here has a right to at least ask the question.

[twobjshelbys]

Didn't say it wasn't legal. Just sayin it isn't nice. As you grow older and wiser you're going to realize that things that rattle around in your brain are sometimes best left unsaid. First impressions made are never undone.

 

Ford's donations have been primarily to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation of late. Also to the Wounded Veteran's project. Both very worthy charities. I'm thinking my next one will be to Darrell Gwynn Foundation.

[07SGT]

I am sure I join many here in commending you for your generosity to the Foundation.

[SVT NAJA]

So I'm curious exactly what makes you think you are qualified to intervene or otherwise try to control Carroll's foundation?

 

I, me, myself, made one of the largest private contributions, and acknowledged doing so (most were anonymous) to the foundation and I seriously want to see it survive. But any foundation depends on having an asset base with income to support the donations they give. Organ transplants, and the research and support systems for family members, are notoriously expensive. Recently Carroll restructured the foundation from the children's (organ transplant oriented) focus to add education, especially in automobile related education, to the foundation's goals. I seriously hope that Carroll made sure that the foundation becomes self sustaining, Frankly, I would love to see someone in 30 or 40 years that benefited from a Shelby Foundation grant have the honor or prestige of someone like Peter Brock or Camilo Pardo.

 

But singling out Cleo and second guessing her motives here make me sick.

 

P.S. I will add that I've been told by a highly placed individual at Barrett Jackson that mine was the largest private donation to date.

 

 

Tony,

 

Your declarations highlighted above reminded me of the scene in Pretty Woman when the Rodeo Drive woman's fashion store clerk asks Richard Gere if the obscene amount of money he is going to spend on Julia Roberts is just profane, or really offensive...

 

Thanks for keeping the CSF flush. I know Carroll must appreciate it too!

[twobjshelbys]

#3.

[twobjshelbys]

Thanks for keeping the CSF flush. I know Carroll must appreciate it too!

 

 

He did. It was quite exciting that night to speak with him on the phone (he couldn't make it to the auction even though he had planned on doing so). We had met with him at the Boulder gathering in December to discuss the plans so he knew in advance of the auction in January.

[2010KonaBlueGT]

When you have Cleo going against the last wishes of CS, as stated in the signed affidavit, and against the wishes of his children.........

 

 

Wait a minute. Are you suggesting that when I die, my *children* should have precedence over my body and estate, rather than my *WIFE*? I could give a shit what my Children want, verses what my wife wants. If she wants to confide in them to see what their opinions are, that's fine but SHE is going to be the final decision maker, not THEM. Why should it be different for Cleo and Carroll?

 

And this "signed affidavit" you speak of...Everyone seems to think that since it was notarized, Carroll Shelby had the mental capacity to sign it, which is Cleo's contention (that he was NOT of sound mind). Just because a notary was involved does NOT mean he was mentally capable of knowing what he was signing. The only thing a notary guaranties is that the person who signed a document, is the person representing the signature.

 

A DOCTOR (and ultimately a Judge, if needed) is who determines if a person is of sound mind, not a Notary Public or a Lawyer. As far as the "Sound Body" portion is concerned, you can sign a directive with a X if you're unable to sign your normal signature.

 

I just went though this with my mother so I do have a little knowledge of the subject at hand.

 

 

Phill

[2010KonaBlueGT]

But singling out Cleo and second guessing her motives here make me sick.

 

 

AMEN! I couldn't agree more.

 

Everyone wants to suddenly vilify Cleo for some reason. She was his WIFE, fer cripes sake. His next of kin, his heir apparent.

 

 

Phill

[David Hawkins]

Wait a minute. Are you suggesting that when I die, my *children* should have precedence over my body and estate, rather than my *WIFE*? I could give a shit what my Children want, verses what my wife wants. If she wants to confide in them to see what their opinions are, that's fine but SHE is going to be the final decision maker, not THEM. Why should it be different for Cleo and Carroll?

 

And this "signed affidavit" you speak of...Everyone seems to think that since it was notarized, Carroll Shelby had the mental capacity to sign it, which is Cleo's contention (that he was NOT of sound mind). Just because a notary was involved does NOT mean he was mentally capable of knowing what he was signing. The only thing a notary guaranties is that the person who signed a document, is the person representing the signature.

 

A DOCTOR (and ultimately a Judge, if needed) is who determines if a person is of sound mind, not a Notary Public or a Lawyer. As far as the "Sound Body" portion is concerned, you can sign a directive with a X if you're unable to sign your normal signature.

 

I just went though this with my mother so I do have a little knowledge of the subject at hand.

 

 

Phill

 

 

AMEN Brother...........

[David Hawkins]

AMEN! I couldn't agree more.

 

Everyone wants to suddenly vilify Cleo for some reason. She was his WIFE, fer cripes sake. His next of kin, his heir apparent.

 

 

Phill

 

+1000

 

[Blown Away]

Wait a minute. Are you suggesting that when I die, my *children* should have precedence over my body and estate, rather than my *WIFE*? I could give a shit what my Children want, verses what my wife wants. If she wants to confide in them to see what their opinions are, that's fine but SHE is going to be the final decision maker, not THEM. Why should it be different for Cleo and Carroll?

 

And this "signed affidavit" you speak of...Everyone seems to think that since it was notarized, Carroll Shelby had the mental capacity to sign it, which is Cleo's contention (that he was NOT of sound mind). Just because a notary was involved does NOT mean he was mentally capable of knowing what he was signing. The only thing a notary guaranties is that the person who signed a document, is the person representing the signature.

 

A DOCTOR (and ultimately a Judge, if needed) is who determines if a person is of sound mind, not a Notary Public or a Lawyer. As far as the "Sound Body" portion is concerned, you can sign a directive with a X if you're unable to sign your normal signature.

 

I just went though this with my mother so I do have a little knowledge of the subject at hand.

 

 

Phill

 

AMEN! I couldn't agree more.

 

Everyone wants to suddenly vilify Cleo for some reason. She was his WIFE, fer cripes sake. His next of kin, his heir apparent.

 

 

Phill

 

 

Well said Phil!!!

 

People are automatically making an opinion without knowing BOTH sides of the story, just relying on newspaper articles.

 

It's on the internet it must be correct, right? lol

 

I'm just glad it is all over and Carroll can now be laid to rest, where ever it may be.

 

Dan

[08KR525]

By all accounts his relationship with his children was much longer than with his latest wife with whom he was supposedly in the process of divorcing, so I do not understand how difficult it is to grasp that his children would not have a say in their father's final wishes. This is not discounting the fact of the notarized document. Just sayin.