Jamie McCourt - Biography

Jamie McCourt (born 1953) is the former CEO of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team

Early life

Jamie McCourt (née Luskin) was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Jewish parents. Her father, Jack Luskin, ran the Luskin's chain of appliance stores in Maryland. As a 17-year-old freshman at Georgetown University, she met Frank McCourt, whom she would marry in 1979. She earned a degree in French at Georgetown University (1975), a law degree at the University of Maryland School of Law (1978) and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

She relocated from Boston to Los Angeles in 2004 with her husband and their four sons, Drew, Travis, Casey, and Gavin. She joined the Dodgers' front-office organization as an executive after the team was acquired.

Career

For fifteen years she was a practicing attorney, engaged in international and securities law in New York as well as in corporate, real estate, and family law in Boston. She then spent ten years as vice president and general counsel of the McCourt Co., the family real estate development firm in Boston.

Beside her legal and real estate work, she also taught classes at the MIT Sloan School and the UCLA Anderson School of Management. She sponsored the 2009 Maccabiah Games, is a trustee of Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and in 2009 was appointed a trustee of the University of Southern California. For her philanthropy to Jewish causes, in 2006 she received the National Scopus Award from the American Friends of The Hebrew University. In 2008, the Los Angeles Business Journal named Frank and Jamie McCourt the “Power Couple of the Year”.

In September 2008, the McCourts purchased the Los Angeles Marathon which had been experiencing financial difficulties.

McCourt divorce/Dodgers ownership dispute

In the year(s) preceding 2009, Jaime McCourt allegedly engaged in a sordid, extramarital affair with her driver, as court documents reveal. These acts of infidelity allegedly carried on for some time, which included Jaime McCourt taking her alleged lover on a trip to Israel under the pretense of a religious pilgrimage. Additionally, the McCourts allegedly absconded with $130 million associated with the Los Angeles Dodgers operations through perquisite benefits, including a $10,000 per month hair stylist, or being paid to themselves as a dividend.

In October and November, 2009 the owner(s) of the Dodgers, the McCourts, separated and later commenced divorce proceedings. Their respective attorneys have publicly identified a dispute as to whether the Dodgers assets are community property (i.e. owned 50% by Jamie McCourt), or are separate property, 100% owned by Frank McCourt. The team and stadium assets were purchased for $430 million in 2004 and were valued at $722 million in 2009 (according to Forbes), a theoretical increase in value of $292 million (68%) in five years.

On October 22, 2009, Frank fired Jamie from her position as CEO of the Dodgers. In court documents, the Dodgers have stated Jamie was terminated for insubordination, as well as for having had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate.^{[9]link dead}

Jamie McCourt was represented in the divorce by well-known trial lawyer David Boies, with assistance from Wasser, Cooperman & Carter.

On June 17, 2011, Frank & Jamie reached agreement on a settlement of their divorce. The settlement was contingent upon Major League Baseball approving a 17-year television contract between the Dodgers and FOX Television. The discussion set aside the Dodgers ownership issue until a scheduled one day trial on August 4, whereupon if the Judge sided with Frank he would keep the team and pay a settlement fee to Jamie and if the Judge sided with her the team would be sold. However, on June 20, baseball rejected the television deal and the settlement agreement fell apart.On June 27, 2011 the team filed bankruptcy papers and led to a bitter dispute between Frank and the Baseball Commissioner over the future of the team.

On October 17, 2011, it was announced that Frank & Jamie had reached a settlement in their divorce case, where she would get about $130 million and give up her claims on the team. This settlement ended what is widely believed to be the costliest divorce in California history.