Chapter Two
Joshua
The law offices of Covington, Covington, Covington, Peters, and Franklin occupied the entire thirty-third floor of a building bordering Central Park. The view from the boardroom overlooked the park and was one of the most exclusive locations in all of Manhattan.
One of the Covington brothers – I could never remember which one was which because they all had identical bald heads and glasses and all had names starting with "G" – George, Gregory, Gordon – sat at the head of a huge polished wood table in the boardroom, my father's last will and testament on the tabletop in front of him. In my hand was a letter from my father that we were all supposed to read before we read the will.
I scanned it, wondering why he had written us a letter, but my sense was that it wouldn't be good news.
I was right.
To my dear boys:
If you are reading this, I am dead.
You have all lived exceptionally privileged lives by virtue of having been born lucky – to wealthy parents. You have all gone to the best schools, lived in the most affluent of neighborhoods. You have lived the bachelor's life since graduation, sowing your wild oats, and traveling around the world in pursuit of your dreams. While I love you, and am proud of each of you, it's time to grow up and be men.
You know that I have no respect for trust fund babies. I don't believe in inherited wealth. None of you did anything to deserve my fortune other than being born and as a result, none of you will receive a dollar of it upon my death; it will all go to charity. I'm sorry if you had plans that included some share of my fortune. Luckily for you, your dear departed mother made me promise I would include you in my will despite my distaste for inherited wealth but I worked for my fortune and I expect you to work for yours.
To that end, I have created trust funds for each of you. They are called "Incentivized Trusts" and one of the Covington brothers will explain it to you in detail. The funds have certain incentives that, once satisfied, will result in the disbursement of instalments. As to the remainder of my overall fortune, it will be divided into five equal portions. Each of you will be the head of a foundation in your name so the wealth I amassed during my lifetime will do some good in this world. It's up to you what kind of charity you create with the foundation revenue. You will receive a healthy salary for being CEO, but nothing more.
My one piece of advice on how to have a happy life? Marry well. Have a family with many children. Love your family with all your heart, the way I did you and your mother.
I know this will be a very unsatisfactory outcome and that you were probably planning on how to spend all my money, but that's not the way life works.
Love,
Your Father
What the…
He hadn't, as we all expected, divided his huge fortune among the five of us. I glanced around the table at my four brothers to see if they were as blindsided as I was by its contents.
David was the first to speak up. The youngest of my brothers, David was never afraid to say exactly what was on his mind, no matter where he was or whom he was with.
"What the ever-loving hell is this?" He held up the sheet of paper and glared at Covington. "What the hell is an incentivized trust fund?"
Covington shuffled the papers in front of him and avoided David's eyes. He cleared his throat before speaking.
"It's intended to provide disbursements when certain requirements are met and not until."
"He cut us out of his will," my second-youngest brother Christian said, a note of disbelief in his voice. At twenty-nine, he was just establishing himself as an adjunct professor at Columbia Law, and had political ambitions. He could have probably used some of my father's fortune to fund a future campaign for political office.
"No, he didn't. You'll each have a considerable salary from your foundations. If you satisfy certain requirements, you'll receive annual disbursements from your trust funds."
"Such as?" Christian asked.
Covington flipped a few pages. "On the anniversary of your wedding day, and on each anniversary afterwards, you will get twenty-five million dollars."
"What?" David's expression was almost comical. "That's peanuts! He's worth what -- ten billion dollars?"
"He's been very generous, considering his views on inherited wealth. He's divided up his fortune into two equal parts. One will be used to create five foundations. The other will be used to fund you and your brothers."
"He's paying us twenty-five million dollars to get married and stay married for a year?" David asked, stuck on the marriage part. "He can't really do that, can he? I mean, I could just marry some girl from the bar and divorce her the following year."
"You don't have to get married, but if you do, you'll get a disbursement on each anniversary of that date as long as you stay married to your spouse. Twenty-five million a year for up to twenty years."
"He's paying us to get married?"