Nextel, Nextlink Stakes Awarded in Divorce Case
Wendy P. McCaw, the former wife of cellular telephone pioneer Craig O. McCaw, received major stakes worth at least $460 million in Nextel Communications Inc. and Nextlink Communications Inc. as part of their divorce settlement, a regulatory filing showed Friday.
The couple, who married in 1974 and have no children, “reached an amicable settlement in their marital dissolution” Oct. 10, according to a statement they issued. It said that the terms of the settlement would remain confidential.
The announcement brought to a peaceful conclusion an epic battle that involved teams of lawyers and bankers trying to arrive at a value on joint assets that Forbes magazine estimated at $2 billion.
At one point, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates, an investor with Craig McCaw in the satellite company Teledesic Corp., was ordered to give a deposition to Wendy McCaw’s lawyers, according to Seattle newspaper accounts.
The McCaws and their representatives did not respond to requests for comments. If the intent was to keep the terms quiet, however, the McCaws failed to reckon with the requirements of U.S. securities laws that specify that changes in ownership stakes of all persons owning more than 5% of a company’s stock must be disclosed.
A Los Angeles law firm representing Wendy McCaw broke the ice Oct. 20 when it filed 13-D documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission that detailed at least some of the stock transfers resulting from the divorce. Craig McCaw filed his own 13-D a day later.
The SEC filings may not be a complete listing of their property division, though; stakes in Teledesic and other private companies, along with their property holdings in California, Washington and elsewhere aren’t included. The divorce case was filed in Washington, a community property state where spouses are entitled to equal shares of assets acquired during the marriage.
In her filing, Wendy McCaw said she might sell some of her 5.83% stake in McLean, Va.-based Nextel, a provider of digital wireless communications services. She received 9.3 million Class A common shares--worth about $240 million--plus options for 4.9 million additional shares with an undisclosed exercise price, according to the filing. She also assumed $101.8 million in debt for the acquisition of some of the Nextel shares, according to the filing.
