《福布斯》雜誌新舊東家爲4.6萬美元起爭議
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，福布斯家族賣掉了對雜誌和出版生意的控制權。不久之後，史蒂夫·福布斯(Steve Forbes)的弟弟蒂姆·福布斯(Tim Forbes)在香港與其中一位新所有者會面。數週來，他一直在努力要求買家們支付利息。但是在10月份的會面中，福布斯稱，他的家族等這4.6萬美元的欠款已經等得太久了。他說，拒絕支付是“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.
從那以後，對這區區幾萬美元的爭奪發展成關於福布斯媒體的未來、福布斯家族聲譽以及以4.15億美元買下這家公司的亞洲富豪們的聲譽的激戰。令人意想不到的是，以世界富豪榜聞名的《福布斯》雜誌的買家和賣家都指責對方缺現金。
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，買家們未能及時支付利息，6500萬美元的貸款合同出現違約。它想收回全部貸款以及爲防止銷售合同違約而留出的3500萬美元備用金，索要總額達到1億多美元。該家族稱，如果對方不付款，它將清算福布斯媒體的新母公司，迫使福布斯媒體再次出售。
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.
雙方均表示，這場糾紛沒有影響福布斯媒體的日常運營，去年，該媒體的收益較前一年增長了15%。但是有些員工表示，這是該公司被出售後不到兩年內的又一次潛在干擾。
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.”
福布斯的新所有者們通過一個名叫本匯鯨媒體投資(Integrated Whale Media Investments)的公司進行管理。新所有者們表示，這場訴訟缺乏法律依據，福布斯家族沒有公佈針對該公司的高昂的索賠額，違反了銷售合同的約定。本匯鯨公司在法庭文件中稱，“爲了滿足福布斯家族的財務需要”，它在購買該公司時作出了妥協。福布斯家族在一項聲明中稱，自己“有足夠的資金，沒有債務，不像本匯鯨公司，在合同簽署之後數週就拖欠債務”。
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.
福布斯家族已經賣掉了它的很多資產，包括它收藏的法貝熱彩蛋(Fabergé eggs)、紐約市的總部大樓、斐濟的一座小島、名爲蘇格蘭高地人(Highlander)的151英尺長的遊艇（以及配套的寫着座右銘“資本主義工具”的直升機）、藝術收藏品、倫敦的一座17世紀的房子。福布斯家族最重要的資產是福布斯媒體，包括《福布斯》雜誌和網站等。2006年，福布斯媒體解體。其中45%的資產以約2.3億美元賣給了私募公司增值投資公司(Elevation Partners)。2014年，增值投資公司和福布斯家族開始向各種可能的買家出售整個公司。
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.
本匯鯨公司成爲最終的中標者。關於這家公司我們知之甚少，只知道它的三位主要負責人的名字：任德章（英文名TC Yam）、黃秀華（音譯，英文名Sammy Wong）和謝偉琦。據說，任德章是香港的一名私募和公募公司投資商。黃秀華經常擔任他的中間人。謝偉琦是新加坡電腦硬件製造商華碩電腦的聯合創始人，他並不直接參與福布斯媒體的管理。
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.
按照協議，本匯鯨公司買下福布斯媒體95%的資產，福布斯家族保留剩下的5%以及董事會席位和某些權利。總計4.156億美元的購買款中有3.5億美元是現款支付，剩下的6560萬美元被列爲貸款，目的是爲了讓福布斯家族享受稅收優惠。第一筆利息額爲4.6459萬美元，2014年10月1日到期。本匯鯨公司在法庭文件中稱，利息未能按期支付是因爲“內部後勤出現失誤”。
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·福布斯給黃秀華髮了封電子郵件，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.”
福布斯在郵件中寫道，“我知道，我們都認爲，我們的合作關係有個和諧的開頭很重要。請告知我何時能收到欠款。”
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，本匯鯨公司支付了利息。但是福布斯家族認爲，拖延導致違約，本匯鯨應該歸還全部的6500萬美元。最初，訴訟在本匯鯨公司的註冊地英國維爾京羣島(Virgin Islands)進行。去年10月，福布斯家族通過其投資公司蘇格蘭高地管理有限責任公司(Highland Management L.L.C.)在特拉華州的衡平法院提起訴訟。
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.
關於欠款的訴訟很快變得非常難看。福布斯家族在法庭文件中稱，本匯鯨公司開始針對福布斯家族進行“報復性的、多層面的迫害”。本匯鯨公司在法庭文件中努力爭取將資金暫時交由第三方保管，一個原因是它考慮到福布斯媒體在烏克蘭進行的“商業賄賂”。
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.”
當年合同公佈時，福布斯家族稱讚新買家們是“前瞻性的投資集團”，尊重“我們的品牌和價值觀”。現在，它有了不同的看法。福布斯家族在一項聲明中說，本匯鯨公司的行爲“正好佐證並加深了我們對它的意圖以及合同義務履行能力的強烈質疑”。
