《福布斯》杂志新旧东家为4.6万美元起争议
Shortly after the Forbes family sold control of its magazine and publishing business in 2014, Tim Forbes held a meeting in Hong Kong with one of the new owners. Mr. Forbes, younger brother of Steve Forbes, had been trying for weeks to collect an interest payment from the buyers. But in the October meeting, Mr. Forbes said his family had waited long enough for the $46,000 payment. The refusal to pay, he said, was “a disrespect to my family and disrespect to me personally.”
2014年，福布斯家族卖掉了对杂志和出版生意的控制权。不久之后，史蒂夫·福布斯(Steve Forbes)的弟弟蒂姆·福布斯(Tim Forbes)在香港与其中一位新所有者会面。数周来，他一直在努力要求买家们支付利息。但是在10月份的会面中，福布斯称，他的家族等这4.6万美元的欠款已经等得太久了。他说，拒绝支付是“不尊重我和我的家族”。
The fight over a mere five figures has since exploded into an all-out war over the future of Forbes Media and the reputations of the Forbes family as well as the Asian tycoons who bought the company for $415 million. In a strange twist, the buyer and seller of Forbes magazine, famous for listing the world’s wealthiest people, have accused each other of being short on cash.
从那以后，对这区区几万美元的争夺发展成关于福布斯媒体的未来、福布斯家族声誉以及以4.15亿美元买下这家公司的亚洲富豪们的声誉的激战。令人意想不到的是，以世界富豪榜闻名的《福布斯》杂志的买家和卖家都指责对方缺现金。
The Forbes family says that because of the missed interest payment, a loan of $65 million it made to the buyers is now in default. It wants the entire amount of the loan, as well as $35 million that was set aside in case of any breaches of the sales contract, bringing the total claim to over $100 million. If the family doesn’t get paid, it says, it will liquidate Forbes Media’s new parent company, which could force another sale of Forbes Media.
福布斯家族表示，买家们未能及时支付利息，6500万美元的贷款合同出现违约。它想收回全部贷款以及为防止销售合同违约而留出的3500万美元备用金，索要总额达到1亿多美元。该家族称，如果对方不付款，它将清算福布斯媒体的新母公司，迫使福布斯媒体再次出售。
Both sides say the dispute hasn’t affected the daily operations of Forbes Media, which showed a revenue increase of 15 percent last year over the previous year. But some employees say it’s another potential distraction less than two years after the company was sold.
双方均表示，这场纠纷没有影响福布斯媒体的日常运营，去年，该媒体的收益较前一年增长了15%。但是有些员工表示，这是该公司被出售后不到两年内的又一次潜在干扰。
Forbes’s new owners, operating under a company called Integrated Whale Media Investments, say the lawsuit is without merit and that the Forbes family breached the sales contract by failing to disclose costly legal claims against the company. Integrated Whale says in court documents that it sweetened its purchase of the company to “accommodate the Forbes family’s personal financial reasons.” In a statement, the family said that it “has plenty of cash and no debt, unlike Integrated Whale, which defaulted on its debts to the family only a few weeks after the deal closed.”
福布斯的新所有者们通过一个名叫本汇鲸媒体投资(Integrated Whale Media Investments)的公司进行管理。新所有者们表示，这场诉讼缺乏法律依据，福布斯家族没有公布针对该公司的高昂的索赔额，违反了销售合同的约定。本汇鲸公司在法庭文件中称，“为了满足福布斯家族的财务需要”，它在购买该公司时作出了妥协。福布斯家族在一项声明中称，自己“有足够的资金，没有债务，不像本汇鲸公司，在合同签署之后数周就拖欠债务”。
The Forbes family has sold off many of its trophies, including its collection of Fabergé eggs; its New York City headquarters building; a Fijian island; its 151-foot yacht, called Highlander (along with the matching helicopter displaying the motto: “The Capitalist Tool”); an art collection; and a 17th-century house in London. The Forbes crown jewel — Forbes Media, which includes Forbes magazine, the website and other properties — was chopped up in 2006. Forty-five percent of it was sold to Elevation Partners, a private equity firm, for about $230 million. In 2014, Elevation and the Forbes family started shopping the whole company to possible buyers.
福布斯家族已经卖掉了它的很多资产，包括它收藏的法贝热彩蛋(Fabergé eggs)、纽约市的总部大楼、斐济的一座小岛、名为苏格兰高地人(Highlander)的151英尺长的游艇（以及配套的写着座右铭“资本主义工具”的直升机）、艺术收藏品、伦敦的一座17世纪的房子。福布斯家族最重要的资产是福布斯媒体，包括《福布斯》杂志和网站等。2006年，福布斯媒体解体。其中45%的资产以约2.3亿美元卖给了私募公司增值投资公司(Elevation Partners)。2014年，增值投资公司和福布斯家族开始向各种可能的买家出售整个公司。
Integrated Whale ended up as the winning bidder. Little is known about the company, other than the names of three of its principals: Yam Tak Cheung, known as TC Yam; Wong Siu Wa, known as Sammy Wong; and Wayne Hsieh. Mr. Yam is said to be a Hong Kong businessman who invests in private and public companies. Mr. Wong often acts as Mr. Yam’s go-between. Mr. Hsieh, a co-founder of Asustek Computer, a Singapore-based computer hardware maker, is not as directly involved in Forbes Media.
本汇鲸公司成为最终的中标者。关于这家公司我们知之甚少，只知道它的三位主要负责人的名字：任德章（英文名TC Yam）、黄秀华（音译，英文名Sammy Wong）和谢伟琦。据说，任德章是香港的一名私募和公募公司投资商。黄秀华经常担任他的中间人。谢伟琦是新加坡电脑硬件制造商华硕电脑的联合创始人，他并不直接参与福布斯媒体的管理。
Under terms of the deal, Integrated Whale bought 95 percent of the company, and the Forbes family retained 5 percent, along with board seats and certain rights. Of the $415.6 million purchase price, $350 million was in cash and $65.6 million was structured as a loan, meant to give the Forbes family tax benefits. The first interest payment of $46,459 was due Oct. 1, 2014. Integrated Whale said the missed interest payment was because of “internal logistical errors,” according to court filings.
按照协议，本汇鲸公司买下福布斯媒体95%的资产，福布斯家族保留剩下的5%以及董事会席位和某些权利。总计4.156亿美元的购买款中有3.5亿美元是现款支付，剩下的6560万美元被列为贷款，目的是为了让福布斯家族享受税收优惠。第一笔利息额为4.6459万美元，2014年10月1日到期。本汇鲸公司在法庭文件中称，利息未能按期支付是因为“内部后勤出现失误”。
On Oct. 10, Tim Forbes sent an email to Mr. Wong reminding him that the money was 10 days past due.
10月10日，蒂姆·福布斯给黄秀华发了封电子邮件，提醒他利息已拖欠十日。
“I know we all agree that it is important that we get off to a harmonious start to our relationship,” Mr. Forbes wrote. “Please let me know when we can expect payment of what we are due.”
福布斯在邮件中写道，“我知道，我们都认为，我们的合作关系有个和谐的开头很重要。请告知我何时能收到欠款。”
Integrated Whale paid the interest on Nov. 18. But the Forbes family claimed the delay caused a default of the loan and that Integrated Whale owes it the entire $65 million. The dispute first landed in court in the British Virgin Islands, where Integrated Whale is registered. Last October the Forbes family, through its investment vehicle Highland Management L.L.C., sued in Chancery Court in Delaware.
11月18日，本汇鲸公司支付了利息。但是福布斯家族认为，拖延导致违约，本汇鲸应该归还全部的6500万美元。最初，诉讼在本汇鲸公司的注册地英国维尔京群岛(Virgin Islands)进行。去年10月，福布斯家族通过其投资公司苏格兰高地管理有限责任公司(Highland Management L.L.C.)在特拉华州的衡平法院提起诉讼。
The payment dispute has quickly become ugly. Integrated Whale has begun “a retaliatory, multifront campaign of oppression” against the family, according to court filings by the Forbes family. In its own court filings, Integrated Whale is seeking to hold on to the escrow, in part because of what it calls a “commercial bribery claim” involving Forbes Media’s operations in Ukraine.
关于欠款的诉讼很快变得非常难看。福布斯家族在法庭文件中称，本汇鲸公司开始针对福布斯家族进行“报复性的、多层面的迫害”。本汇鲸公司在法庭文件中努力争取将资金暂时交由第三方保管，一个原因是它考虑到福布斯媒体在乌克兰进行的“商业贿赂”。
When the deal was announced, the Forbes family praised the new buyers as “a forward-looking investor group” that respects “our brand and our values.” Now it has a different view. In a statement, the family said Integrated Whale’s actions “have only confirmed and deepened grievous doubts as to its intent and its ability to fulfill its contractual obligations.”
当年合同公布时，福布斯家族称赞新买家们是“前瞻性的投资集团”，尊重“我们的品牌和价值观”。现在，它有了不同的看法。福布斯家族在一项声明中说，本汇鲸公司的行为“正好佐证并加深了我们对它的意图以及合同义务履行能力的强烈质疑”。
