Steve Tisch, siblings request transfer of their stakes in Giants to children's trusts, per NFL memo

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Giants co-owners Steve, Laurie and Jonathan Tisch want to transfer their shares of the NFL club to their children’s trusts, according to a league memo that was obtained by The Associated Press.

According to the memo, the Tisch siblings would move the remaining 23.1% of the Giants that they still own to the trusts after completing previous transfers in 2023 and ’24. The memo states, “Following the transactions, the sellers will no longer own any interest in the club.”

A Giants spokesperson said the team had no comment. ESPN was first to report the transfer request.

It was not clear if the transfer requests were in any way related to Steve Tisch’s name appearing in the Jeffrey Epstein files released by the U.S. Justice Department in January. Steve Tisch’s name came up more than 400 times in the files. Tisch at the time said he knew Epstein but denied going to his island.

“We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition, we discussed movies, philanthropy and investments,” Steve Tisch said in a statement on Jan. 31. “I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in February said the league would look into Tisch's association with Epstein.

“Absolutely we will look at all the facts,” Goodell said at a news conference in San Jose, California, during Super Bowl week. “We’ll look at the context of those and try to understand that. We’ll look at how that falls under the (league personal conduct) policy. I think we’ll take one step at a time. Let’s get the facts first.”

The Tisch family has shared ownership of the Giants since 1991 with the Mara family, which founded the franchise in 1925. The Koch family agreed in September to purchase 10% of the team.

Maaddi reported from Tampa, Florida.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

FILE - Laurie Tisch attends the Whitney Gala on Oct. 19, 2009, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File)

FILE - Jonathan Tisch, co-chairman of the Super Bowl Host Committee, speaks to the media following a news briefing concerning transportation to Super Bowl XLVIII, Dec. 9, 2013, at the Frank R. Lautenberg Secaucus Junction Station in Secaucus, N.J. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

FILE - New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch arrives for NFL owners meetings in New York, Oct. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

BERLIN (AP) — A rescue team on Saturday released from a barge in the North Sea a humpback whale that had been stranded in shallow waters near Germany since March, witnesses said.

Nicknamed Timmy by German media, the whale was spotted swimming near Germany’s Baltic Sea coast on March 3, far from its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean.

The mammal’s health deteriorated as it became repeatedly stranded in shallow waters near the coastal city of Wismar, and unsuccessful efforts to coax it toward deeper seas were livestreamed across the globe.

The environment minister for Germany’s Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state gave the green light for the attempt to save the whale, proposed by a private initiative, despite some warnings from the scientific community that it may be too much for the animal.

Jens Schwarck, a member of the private initiative who was on site, said the whale was released around 9 a.m. local time, according to the German news agency dpa. The agency reported that the whale was released 70 kilometers (about 45 miles) from the coast of Skagen, Denmark.

Drone footage showed a whale swimming and spouting water near the barge, though it was not immediately confirmed that the animal was indeed Timmy.

A debate emerged about whether to let the whale die in peace or try to assist its return to the Atlantic Ocean. Activists staged protests on the beach in Wismar calling for its liberation, while others have supported new ideas about how the whale could be transported.

Some scientists believe the whale had searched for shallow waters because it was weak and needed rest. The veterinarians of the private initiative, however, considered the animal fit for transport.

Before the release, a GPS transmitter was reportedly attached to track the whale’s future location, according to dpa.

The humpback whale recovered from a shallow bay off Wismar is being transported towards the North Sea in a flooded cargo ship just before the Danish border in Fehmarn, Germany, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Philip Dulian/dpa via AP)

The humpback whale recovered from a shallow bay off Wismar is being transported towards the North Sea in a flooded cargo ship just before the Danish border in Fehmarn, Germany, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Philip Dulian/dpa via AP)