Mr. Fletcher, Your Water Is Hot Now
Posted on May 30th, 2013 in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
The Wall Street Journal reports that the IRS has filed a $1.4 million tax lien against Harvard grad, philanthropist, and kinda-sorta hedge fund manager Buddy Fletcher, written about by yours truly in Boston magazine.
The lien dates back to a tax filing for 2010, the same year that the Dakota board rejected Mr. Fletcher’s application to buy a $5.7 million, two-bedroom apartment.
The IRS effort to obtain back tax payments comes as Mr. Fletcher’s suit claiming discrimination by the Dakota board is still wending its way through Manhattan state Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Fletcher inexplicably continues to pursue his lawsuit, even as the NY Post reports that Dakota lawyers are busily discrediting his gift to Harvard establishing a university professorship.
Lawyers for The Dakota pressed a Manhattan judge yesterday with their claim that Fletcher welshed on a $4.5 million gift to his alma mater, Harvard University — a donation that was to be used to endow a chair in African-American studies. The chair, named after Fletcher, is now held by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Fletcher, through his lawyers, argued the donation was “non-binding” — but failed to come up with any proof to back up the claim.
I am both fascinated and depressed by Fletcher’s downward spiral. Is there no point at which he will cut his losses and admit defeat? And if that’s the case…how does it all end?
2 Responses
5/30/2013 9:34 am
Perhaps Buddy could use the thermometer he kept on his desk in the GM Building, and which he used to determine if his executive chef was serving the soup at the right temperature? Many’s the chef who trembled with fear as that thermometer came out…
Richard, it’s a rhetorical question, no? Buddy really believes he’s a victim, or as he more prosaically puts it, “one hurtin’ puppy.” And it seems the Dakota has found a leash.
6/3/2024 10:54 pm
I read Mr. Bradley’s piece about Fletcher. It is a fascinating piece. I am of the opinion that Fletcher would have drawn hyper-scrutiny a long time ago in view of the fact that he was a Black man operating in a world dominated by White males primarily. Why didn’t that happen? Did he have powerful White benefactors? It is interesting that he was able to buy several apartments in the Dakota at a relatively young age without eye-popping wealth (liquidity). I aslo remember reading the piece by Floyd Norris in the NYT a year or so ago detailing the financial statement that Fletcher provided to the Dakota. The piece read like “science fiction.” I recall that Flether reportedly took out a mortgage to pay for his apartments in the Dakota. How has he managed to circumvent foreclosure?