Executor of O.J. Simpson's estate plans to fight payout to the families of Brown and Goldman

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The executor of O.J. Simpson’s estate says he will work to prevent a payout of a $33.5 million judgment awarded by a California civil jury nearly three decades ago in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the families of Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.

Simpson’s will was filed Friday in a Clark County court in Nevada, naming his longtime lawyer, Malcolm LaVergne, as the executor. The document shows Simpson’s property was placed into a trust that was created this year.

LaVergne told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the entirety of Simpson’s estate has not been tallied. Under Nevada law, an estate must go through the courts if its assets exceed $20,000.

Simpson died Wednesday without having paid the lion’s share of the civil judgment that was awarded in 1997 after jurors found him liable. With his assets set to go through the court probate process, the Goldman and Brown families could be in line to get paid a piece of whatever Simpson left behind.

LaVergne, who had represented Simpson since 2009, said he specifically didn't want the Goldman family seeing any money from Simpson’s estate.

“It’s my hope that the Goldmans get zero, nothing,” he told the Review-Journal. “Them specifically. And I will do everything in my capacity as the executor or personal representative to try and ensure that they get nothing.”

LaVergne did not immediately return phone and email messages left by The Associated Press on Saturday.

Although the Brown and Goldman families have pushed for payment, LaVergne said there was never a court order forcing Simpson to pay the civil judgment. The attorney told the Review-Journal that his particular ire at the Goldman family stemmed in part from the events surrounding Simpson’s planned book, titled “If I Did It.” Goldman’s family won control of the manuscript and retitled the book “If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer.”

Simpson earned fame and fortune through football and show business, but his legacy was forever changed by the June 1994 knife slayings of his ex-wife and her friend in Los Angeles. He was acquitted of criminal charges in 1995 in a trial that mesmerized the public.

Goldman’s father Fred Goldman, the lead plaintiff, always said the issue was never the money, it was only about holding Simpson responsible. And he said in a statement Thursday that with Simpson’s death, “the hope for true accountability has ended.”

The Goldman and Brown families will be on at least equal footing with other creditors and will probably have an even stronger claim, as Simpson's estate is settled under terms established by the trust created in January. The will lists his four children and notes that any beneficiary who seeks to challenge provisions of the will “shall receive, free of trust, one dollar ($1.00) and no more in lieu of any claimed interest in this will or its assets.”

Simpson said he lived only on his NFL and private pensions. Hundreds of valuable possessions had been seized as part of the jury award, and Simpson was forced to auction his Heisman Trophy, fetching $230,000.

FILE - O.J. Simpson sits at his arraignment in Superior Court in Los Angeles on July 22, 1994. O.J. Simpson's attorney Malcolm LaVergne is now handling the deceased former football star, actor and famous murder defendant's financial estate. (AP Photo/Pool/Lois Bernstein, Pool)

FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2007 file photo, O.J. Simpson is taken from the Las Vegas Police Investigative Services Division in Las Vegas. O.J. Simpson's attorney Malcolm LaVergne is now handling the deceased former football star, actor and famous murder defendant's financial estate. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

FILE - Buffalo Bills running back O.J. Simpson (32) has his jersey pulled by Baltimore Colts linebacker Mike Curtis, during the second quarter of an NFL football game in Baltimore, Md., Oct. 12, 1975. Simpson's attorney Malcolm LaVergne is now handling the deceased former football star, actor and famous murder defendant's financial estate. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - In this May 14, 2013, file photo, O.J. Simpson sits during a break on the second day of an evidentiary hearing in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas. O.J. Simpson's attorney Malcolm LaVergne is now handling the deceased former football star, actor and famous murder defendant's financial estate. (AP Photo/Ethan Miller, Pool, File)

FILE - Fred Goldman, father of murder victim Ron Goldman, sits in his home in Peoria, Ariz., on May 20, 2014. Goldman, the executor of O.J. Simpson’s estate says he will work to prevent a payout of a $33.5 million judgment awarded by a California civil jury nearly three decades ago in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the families of Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. Simpson’s will was filed Friday, April 12, 2024, in a Clark County court in Nevada, naming his longtime lawyer, Malcolm LaVergne, as the executor. The document shows Simpson’s property was placed into a trust that was created this year. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

FILE - O.J. Simpson checks out the bronze bust of himself after his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Saturday, Aug. 3, 1985 in Canton, Ohio. O.J. Simpson, the decorated football superstar and Hollywood actor who was acquitted of charges he killed his former wife and her friend but was found liable in a separate civil trial, has died. He was 76. The family announced on Simpson's official X account that he died Wednesday, April 10, 2024, of prostate cancer. (AP Photo/Ernie Mastroianni, File)

FILE - Fred Goldman, left center, is flanked by his wife, Patti, left, and daughter Kim, center, as they leave the Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village, Calif., Thursday, June 16,1994, after attending the funeral services for their son, Ronald Goldman, who was killed at Nicole Brown Simpson's Los Angeles-area condominium oOn June 12, 1994. O.J. Simpson, the decorated football superstar and Hollywood actor who was acquitted of charges he killed his former wife and her friend but later found liable in a separate civil trial, has died. He was 76. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)

FILE - O.J. Simpson is surrounded by his defenseattorneys, clockwise from left, Ken Spaulding, back towards camera, Gerald Uelmen, Robert Shapiro and Johnnie Cochran Jr., as they discuss their plans for arguing the admissibility of the tapes of retired Los Angeles police detective Mark Fuhrman during his trial, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 1995 in Los Angeles. Simpson, the decorated football superstar and Hollywood actor who was acquitted of charges he killed his former wife and her friend but later found liable in a separate civil trial, has died. He was 76. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Daily News via AP, Pool, File)

Executor of O.J. Simpson's estate plans to fight payout to the families of Brown and Goldman

FILE - In this July 20, 2017 file photo, former NFL football star O.J. Simpson reacts after learning he was granted parole at Lovelock Correctional Center in Lovelock, Nev. Simpson, the decorated football superstar and Hollywood actor who was acquitted of charges he killed his former wife and her friend but later found liable in a separate civil trial, has died. He was 76. (Jason Bean/The Reno Gazette-Journal via AP, Pool, File)

Executor of O.J. Simpson's estate plans to fight payout to the families of Brown and Goldman

NEW YORK (AP) — Paramount Global on Monday announced that Bob Bakish is stepping down as CEO of the film, television and multimedia company.

Bakish will be replaced by a troika of executives who will form a new “Office of the CEO.” The group includes George Cheeks, the CEO of CBS; Chris McCarthy, CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks; and Brian Robbins, the CEO of Paramount Pictures.

The company said Cheeks, McCarthy and Robbins will work closely with Chief Financial Officer Naveen Chopra and the board of directors. Among the issues the new CEO trio must face are a reported $11 billion offer from private-equity firm Apollo Global to acquire the studio, which produces films and television programs and runs the streaming service Paramount+.

There have also been reports of a possible merger with Skydance, David Ellison’s media company that has helped produce such Paramount releases as “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning.”

Co-CEOs are rare but far from unknown; roughly 100 public companies such as Salesforce, Netflix, Chipotle Mexican Grill, SAP and Oracle have all had co-CEOs for various periods of time over the past quarter century. A 2022 study published in the Harvard Business Review found that among 87 co-CEO led companies, dual leadership coincided with better-than-average stock performance. Roughly 60% of these companies outperformed.

CEO troikas, however, are far rarer, and their organizational issues can be much more complex. For instance, instead of being forced to compromise the way co-CEOs often are, two members of a troika can just outvote a third.

Paramount also released earnings for the quarter ended March 31 on Monday, reporting a net loss attributable to Paramount of $554 million, or 87 cents per share, a reduction from a $1.1 billion net loss, or $1.74 per share, in the same year-earlier period. The company reported revenue of $7.66 billion, a 5.8% increase from $7.27 billion a year earlier.

The earnings in the latest quarter, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 62 cents per share. That topped expectations of 35 cents a share, according to a FactSet poll.

In what may have been a sly nod to the challenge it faces, Paramount closed out the Monday conference call in which it described the CEO changes and earnings with the theme to “Mission: Impossible.”

FILE - Paramount CEO Bob Bakish speaks as he attends an interview during the Barron's Roundtable at the Fox Business Network, Aug. 5, 2022, in New York. Paramount Global on Monday, April 29, 2024, announced that Bakish is stepping down as CEO of the film, television and multimedia company. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, File)