March 15 in Jet History: Sale to Werblin Approved by Court
Mar 15, 2016 5:38:36 GMT -5
jetfrantik and Bing© in Buffalo Chairman like this
Post by Lithfan on Mar 15, 2016 5:38:36 GMT -5
March 15, 1963
Federal bankruptcy court referee, John E. Joyce, on this date in 1963, approved the sale of the New York Titans to a 5-man consortium led by David A. (Sonny) Werblin.
Original Titans owner, Harry Wismer, had attempted to block the sale in February with a petition to the bankruptcy court that was unsuccessful. In that petition, he listed the team’s assets at less than $275,000, but liabilities in excess of $1,300,000. The $1,000,000 sale price was to be deposited to a special account in the name of the Titans. It was to be used to settle creditor’s debts. None of the funds would go to Wismer who claimed to have lost $1.75 million during his 3 years of ownership.
In addition to Werblin, the new ownership team included Donald C. Lillis, a Wall Street Broker and owner of a Bowie, MD racetrack; Townsend Martin, A NJ investment banker, Philip Iselin, president of a NY textile firm and Leon Hess of the Hess Oil Company. Martin, Iselin & Hess were also partners at the time in the Monmouth Park Racetrack jockey club.
In a statement from Wismer’s attorney, George Levin, he said, “The parties have been in continuous negotiations with the goal of arriving at a solution to this problem, and I am happy to report that we have come to what we think is a solution. We are dealing with a perishable asset. This franchise was on the verge of being cancelled.”
For his part, AFL Commissioner Joe Foss seemed happy to have the issue of the Titans bamruptcy and ownership questions resolved, commenting that he was “very enthusiastic about the sale. The new owners are a fine group, all well respected."
It did not take the new ownership team long to bring about major change. Within a month, they had renamed the team the Jets and changed the team colors to green & white.
Source: Daytona Beach Morning Journal
Federal bankruptcy court referee, John E. Joyce, on this date in 1963, approved the sale of the New York Titans to a 5-man consortium led by David A. (Sonny) Werblin.
Original Titans owner, Harry Wismer, had attempted to block the sale in February with a petition to the bankruptcy court that was unsuccessful. In that petition, he listed the team’s assets at less than $275,000, but liabilities in excess of $1,300,000. The $1,000,000 sale price was to be deposited to a special account in the name of the Titans. It was to be used to settle creditor’s debts. None of the funds would go to Wismer who claimed to have lost $1.75 million during his 3 years of ownership.
In addition to Werblin, the new ownership team included Donald C. Lillis, a Wall Street Broker and owner of a Bowie, MD racetrack; Townsend Martin, A NJ investment banker, Philip Iselin, president of a NY textile firm and Leon Hess of the Hess Oil Company. Martin, Iselin & Hess were also partners at the time in the Monmouth Park Racetrack jockey club.
In a statement from Wismer’s attorney, George Levin, he said, “The parties have been in continuous negotiations with the goal of arriving at a solution to this problem, and I am happy to report that we have come to what we think is a solution. We are dealing with a perishable asset. This franchise was on the verge of being cancelled.”
For his part, AFL Commissioner Joe Foss seemed happy to have the issue of the Titans bamruptcy and ownership questions resolved, commenting that he was “very enthusiastic about the sale. The new owners are a fine group, all well respected."
It did not take the new ownership team long to bring about major change. Within a month, they had renamed the team the Jets and changed the team colors to green & white.
Source: Daytona Beach Morning Journal
