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1674-28 Carl FisherDec. 21, 1940. General Robert H. Tyndall, 711 North Pennsylvania Street, Indianapolis, Indiana. Dear Bobs— There is being mailed to you today, in an envelo•, addressed to you as Trustee, a letter of even date (which letter is being ad eased to the stock— holders of the Carl G. Fisher Corporation), anditer addressed to you there was enclosed a check for $7490.00, made sayable to Ro H. Tyndall, Trus— tee -- which I presume you will wish to endorse and forward to Margaret at your earliest convenience. You probably have been made away/ of t fact that Mr. Daniels and an attorney by the name of Howe were down ►ere re. ntly; the purpose of their visit being to consult with the undersignor of the Estate of Carl 0. Fisher, and also with the attorneys, Loftin, •alkin Anderson and Scott, who are the at— torneys for Margaret and yourself as yt: , etc. In the conversations which I had wi "r. Daniels and Mr. Howe I was led to believe that they had conferred with you on ore than one occasion and, seem— ingly — at least, judging frothey said - they were convinced that the value of the assets of Carl's Es a werensiderably in excess of their actual value, if one is to consider the eriod of t\e which may be required to liquidate the assets, and taking into ther consider ation the fact that, in these troublous times, items which now se to have a ertain value may, in the not very distant future, prove to have a ve much les value than they now seem to have. In any event, it is quite evident `., Mr aniels came here with the idea that there was here at Miami Beach a real ate boom in the making — all of which is not a fact. It is Last year the year there front; but th clientele or G. Fisher Group very badly congested. Each one of these hotels that have been erected occupy practically every inch of ground on which they are located. Such hotels as the °Whitman, Shoremede, and Pancoast are very much disturbed over the situation, as they will have as next door neighbors, hotels which cater almost exclusively to Jewish clientele. However, the demand for and the scarcity of ocean frontage has naturally increased the price; but that condition does not prevail as regards property owned and/or controlled by the Miami Beach Bay Shore Company and/or the Fisher Corporation. e, as you perhaps know, that there is a scarcity of ocean frontage. were 47 n hotels built — most of them on the ocean front. This 41 new hot: s being built, and they also are built on the ocean e hotels w e not built by those who cater to the same class of sts as d•. the Pancoast, Whitman, Shoremede, Braznell, or the Carl s. The result is that the ocean front area has become And with this condition prevailing, it is very fair to assume that real estate values, particularly the property other than that located on the ocean front, will, in all probability, decline in value. That means but one things General Robert H. 'Tyndall -- 2. Dec. 21, 1940. J that is, that the real estate holdings, etc., of our two Companies, i.e. the Fisher Corporation and the Miami Beach Bay Shore Company, will not inorease in value. Furthermore, each and every year the cost of doing business increases, and that means a greater overhead for the respective Companies, and, further than that, each year, of courrye, both Companies are required to pay taxes on their holdings. There is only one way they can relieve thee.:elves of the tax burden, and that is by selling real estate; and every time the sell a piece of real es- tate, it reduces the assets. In other words, whenever .e Miami Beach Bay Shore Company pays a dividend, a very small proportion, if an of it, comes out of earnings. That is more truly the fact at the moment a� regards the Fisher Cor- poration, for in the letter dated December 14th, ad rens-. to the stockholders of the Fisher Corporation, you will note that uirawirscrtely 20% of the divi- dend which was paid on Aupust 10th, 1940, came from earningiNthe balance, 80%, care from the sale of one of the major assets of the Corporation, namely, the Lincoln Hotel properties. And in the letter rhich is bein and to which I first referred in this that only 33% of the amount will con ending August 31, 1941, and 67% com a "return of investment." with the present dividend check, u will note that it is estimated e earnings for the fiscal year e sale of assets, and is, as stated, The Miami Beach Bay Shore Company.arrst approaching the point where whatever, if any, future dividends are paid by them, will have to come from the sale of assets, and not out is sold by either the Fish means that we are reducin much. This is somethi self have failed to reali it the degree of iraportan Corpor the asset which I am ,e; or, if y which mu ngs. 8o that, every time a piece of property on or the Miami Beach Bay Shore Company, it lue of that Company's stock by just that to sure Ur. Daniels, and perhaps you your - have realized it, you haven't placed upon be given to it. I am writing you in some detail on this subject because I dare say that inasmuch as you undoubtedly have been approached, and may have had some confer- ences with Dani. d the other members of the Riley Memorial Association Com- mittee, and m:s* be further contacted by them, that you will understand just what the situatio is. And whle the Bureau of Internal Revenue at the very first placed a rats .r high valu upon the Fisher Corporation stock, it may interest you to know at subsequ: tly, and after a most thorough examination, they very materially re. ^ed thei, des as to what the Fisher Corporation stock was worth; and you may res -,:..••-d that if they thought there was any chance of supporting their first idea as to values, they would have stuck to it. So, may I suggest that if, perchance, you should have occasion to have any further contacts or conferences with Mr. Daniels, or any of his associates, that you rnake it very clear to them that there isn't any such value attached to the stock of the Fisher Corporation, which was held by Mr. Fisher, as has been pre- sumed by many of those, inoluding some creditors, and even the beneficiary of that Estate. Mr. Daniels and Mr. Howe left here with the express thought in mind of consulting others of the members of their Committee and working out some com- promise that would be fair - at least, I have been so informed; they having been General Robert H. Tyndall -- 3. Dec. 21, 1940. as I believe, convinced that they have over-estimated the value of the Fisher Corporation stock, which is the major asset of Carps Estate. And, in view of the cir mnstanees and conditions, etc., may I further suggest that you re- frain from making any comments as to the dividend now being paid by the Fisher Corporation, for I fear that that may improperly influence them in their de- mands. As you perhaps know, Pres. Fisher, on her behalf res Trustee, have filed claims against the Estate, to th $85,000.00; this amount being claimed as being the unpai time of Carl's decease on the Prenuptial Agreement, whit to his marriage to Margaret, and in connection with whic the Trustee. beneficiary, and you extent of approximately balance due up to the was made just prior agreement yoWare I have no desire nor intention of misleading anyone in connection with sure that at the time Mr. Fisher gave ad every intention, and was at that at his death his Estate nt of that amount out of his p upon any of those to whom he to give; but, as both you and I e of the reorganization of The Carl seriously considered having him go o work out a solution of the prob- ane. these several matters. However, I am very the note to the Riley Memorial Associatio that time in a position to, and firmly would be sufficiently large to warrant Estate, without in any ray inflictin might at some subsequent date rill w know, Carl just escaped bankruptcy at G. Fisher Company. In fact, at that time through bankruptcy proceedings, but were ab lem without having that stigma attached to his In any event, I am note which he gave to the it to me, and I am sure t have made an attempt to e item; and certain it is, b Association should not at t their claim being paid in its en which she is justly entitled and clearly intendeshe should have. e sur ey Memor t, had he r ect a compr all the r hat Carl had entirely forgotten about the 1 Association, because he never mentioned ailed it, he would, prior to his death, se and satisfactory settlement of that es of decency and procedure, the Riley and under the circumstances, insist upon ety, and thus deprive Margaret of that to which, as evidenced by Carl's rill, he very -1 I fee hat it ie duty to write you this somewhat lengthy letter on this subject because I r= lize what the extent of your influence is in the In- dianapolis , and what .assistance you can be to Margaret in doing, or not do- ing, or sayinj, anythi Yhich will create in the hinds of the Riley Memorial Association Con•+a'.•-- exaggerated idea of the value of the Estate, and what it will mean to Margaret in the event that the Riley Association should prose- cute their claim to a successful conclusion. I am frank to say my personal viewpoint is that they will never make it stick; but if they do, by the same token, LarLaret'a claim of $,8OO.OoIs just as legitimate a claim, if not more so, end will.unaoub5,0 ted1y be allowed; so that the claims against the Estate, and other than the Riley Association claim, are approximately x100,000.00 as against the 150,000.00 claim of the Riley Association; and, in the final analysis, if all claims against the Estate are established as filed, the best that the Riley • Association could possibly hope to get would be one-third of what there was in the Estate; whereas, Margaret would get at least two-thirds; and the net value of the Estate, after all expenses have been paid, will not, in my opinion, ex- ceed $40,000.00, on the assumption that the value of the Fisher Corporation stock 1 G erel Robert ii. Tyndall -- 4. Dec. 21, 1940. is established at the appraised value of „25.00 per phare. I assume that you will be so busy with things of a military character that we are not going to have the pleasure of seeing you down here this winter season. However, if you can break away long enough, we certainly shall be glad to see you, and I would like very much to have youcone so that you might more properly get a true picture of what is going on at iiaTat Beach. In closing, I wish for you and your family not on, a most delightful Christmas, but I hope that the new Year will bring to yon and yours a great abundance of good health, happiness and prosper FRHIAVM Sincerely, R. Hunpage.