Posts about Gayle Benson
https://www.nola.com/sports/jeff_duncan/article_544ce4fc-204c-11ec-8f9f-330b85d1a789.html/?s
https://www.nola.com/sports/saints/article_86629420-1c8f-11ec-96de-839d3eaac77e.html
—-
at some point, the Benson reign will end, as Gayle, 74, has no heirs. The plan for the team and the rest of the Benson empire at that point has been one of the most closely guarded secrets in the Saints organization.
Until now.
When Gayle Benson dies, the Saints will be sold. The proceeds — likely billions of dollars — will be given away through charities to benefit the people of New Orleans.
—-
As long as Lauscha, 52, is still living, it will be his job to oversee the sale of the NFL team, with a goal of ensuring the Saints and Pelicans remain in New Orleans. It will then fall to him to manage what philanthropy experts describe as a “transformational” endowment for the city.
As overseer of those twin tasks, Lauscha will become one of the most influential New Orleans business leaders in recent memory. But his evolution from a kid growing up on the West Bank to a young advisor to Tom Benson and later executor of his estate has happened largely out of public view. With the announcement of the succession plan, however, Lauscha has decided to speak openly about the challenges that lie ahead.
“I think about it all the time,” Lauscha said of his looming duties in a recent interview. “It’s a tremendous responsibility.”
Besides selecting a new team owner and managing the endowment after Gayle Benson dies, Lausha will continue to be her point man in charge of negotiating lease extensions aimed at keeping both the Saints and Pelicans in town well into the future.
—-
Supposedly more to come with this story in the following days