capital gains tax: Is This the Real Reason Why George Lucas Sold Star Wars?

[aGameOfThrones]

While this may be as interesting to some of you as trade policy discussions were in The Phantom Menace, a financial website claims that George Lucas had a huge financial incentive in selling the Star Wars franchise to Disney for $4.05 billion before the end of this year: taxes.

According to Seeking Alpha, "Lucas built his empire over many years and is sitting on a very large capital gain. Although Lucas has not publicly stated that tax policies had anything to do with the timing of the sale, there is speculation that it was a large factor. If outcomes from past tax policy changes are any indication of what will result this time around, then be prepared for a lot more selling between now and year-end."

"The election results are in and as expected Congress and the White House maintain status quo. As a result, certain tax codes like the capital gains and dividend and interest income tax rates are at risk of a significant increase," the site explains. "As the law currently stands, the capital gains tax rate will see the largest year-over-year increase in history. Some intelligent investors didn't wait for election results to lock in the low capital gains tax rate." And their example of such an investor? George Lucas.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/11/30/is-this-the-real-reason-why-george-lucas-sold-star-wars-now

[Zippyjuan]

Somehow I don't think he would have gone broke if he had waited.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/01/george-lucas-disney-lucasfilm-net-worth-how-much_n_2056746.html

On Tuesday, the Walt Disney Company announced it had purchased Lucasfilm, the production company behind "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones," for $4.05 billion. Disney paid half the offer in cash and issued about 40 million shares at closing, making it $2 billion in bills and $2 billion in stock. Lucasfilm is 100 percent owned by George Lucas himself.

How rich is the director/screenwriter/producer set to become after the $4 billion deal?

Prior to Disney acquiring Lucasfilm, George Lucas had about $1.4 billion in cash, investments and other assets, according to CNBC, citing Wealth-X. This amount, however, did not include the value of his private companies, namely Lucasfilm.

Forbes estimates Lucas' net worth at $3.3 billion as of September 2012. Lucas ranked No. 120 on The Forbes 400 list. With the Disney check in his pocket, Lucas' net worth could skyrocket to about $5.2 billion after taxes, according to CNBC:


[E]ven after taxes, Lucas will likely become among the 70 richest Americans, vaulting from around 120. His liquid net worth alone will more than double to $3.1 billion. Plus, he reportedly gets to keep his Skywalker Ranch, the plush campus of work and residential space that has a swimming pool, volleyball and handball court and aerobics room. Located on more than 4,000 acres in Marin County north of San Francisco, it is worth at least $100 million, according to Wealth-X.

[Cowlesy]

I think George Lucas is going to donate most of the proceeds to charity. I am sure he'll be just fine. What a classy gentleman.

”George Lucas has expressed his intention, in the event the deal closes, to donate the majority of the proceeds to his philanthropic endeavors.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/briansolomon/2012/11/04/donating-star-wars-billions-will-make-george-lucas-one-of-the-biggest-givers-ever/