$254M Ct. Powerball jackpot claimed by 3 asset managers

Nov 28, 2011, 8:12 pm (95 comments)

Powerball

Includes video report

ROCKY HILL, Conn. — The mystery winners of a $254 million Powerball jackpot, a record for Connecticut, need only look in the mirror for wealth management advice.

All three work for a boutique money management firm in Greenwich, which has fewer assets under its control ($82 million) than their newfound winnings.

Greg Skidmore, Brandon Lacoff and Tim Davidson of Belpointe LLC revealed themselves as the winners during a check presentation Monday at the Connecticut Lottery headquarters in Rocky Hill.

The tight-lipped trio, who referred all questions to their lawyer, opted to collect an after-tax lump sum of $108 million.

"The one thing that we do know is that a significant amount is going to be going to Connecticut charities," said the spokesman, Jason Kurland, a Long Island, N.Y.-based attorney.

Skidmore, the company's president and chief investment officer, is a former member of the U.S. sailing team who was once an Olympic hopeful, according to the company's website.

Davidson's online biography says he grew up in Switzerland, France and the United Kingston and started his career in financial markets in 1979 with a French bank. He has worked in New York, Paris and London and is a senior portfolio manager and wealth adviser.

Lacoff, the site says, co-founded Belpointe and owns others businesses and properties on Connecticut's shoreline, including companies that manage the assets of individuals and institutions.

Kurland declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding the purchase of the winning ticket, which was sold at a BP gas station in the Shippan neighborhood of Stamford shortly before the Nov. 2 drawing.

Frank Farricker, a fellow Greenwich resident who is chairman of the Connecticut Lottery Corp., presented a poster-sized check to the trio during a news conference Monday.

"To their credit, they did show up to Rocky Hill in a very large stretch limo," Farricker said. "They were in suits."

The winning combination was 12-14-34-39-46, Powerball 36. The lucky ticket was a quick pick, with the numbers selected randomly by computer. It marked the third time in the past six months Greenwich produced a winner of a jackpot of at least $1 million

"The way we look at it is it's just another example that anyone can win the lottery," Farricker said. "There's no rule where people should be from or what economic class they should be in. These guys bought one ticket. I just think it's a good thing."

Farricker did a double-take when Lacoff showed up at lottery headquarters Monday. He wondered why he was there. They know one another from real estate circles in Greenwich, where Belpointe has a portfolio of properties.

Among those holdings is Beacon Hill of Greenwich, a cluster of multi-million dollar luxury townhomes on Soundview Drive in the downtown near Town Hall.

Belpointe has been an anchor sponsor of the Greenwich Wiffle Ball Tournament, a town-wide competition created after a group of teens were evicted from a field they built on a vacant municipal property in Riverside in 2008.

The lottery win is more than the firm's total assets under management, listed in Belpointe's most recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission registration. The firm said it had $82 million assets under management as of July.

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Belpointe has several branches, including a connection with Lacoff's law firm, and a pre-existing real estate firm. It also offers insurance products.

Its asset management arm has between 251 to 500 clients, with high net worth individuals accounting for more than 51 percent of the firm's core business. The firm also provides services to pension funds, other individuals, corporations and some government entities.

Skidmore founded Belpointe Asset Management in 2007 after leaving Citi Smith Barney. He merged his business with Belray Capital, a real estate firm owned by Lacoff. Davidson was at UBS Wealth Management prior to joining Belpointe.

When Farricker left lottery headquarters Monday, he said officials there were in the processing of cutting a single check to the winners of the historic jackpot.

"I think I would have cried if I had actually seen the check," Farricker said. "My joke to people is if I ever won a lottery like that, my press conference would be at the airport."

Asked whether his clients, ages 36, 37 and 57, would be retiring or making any splurges, Kurland answered, "No. Not that I know of."

The owners of the Shippan BP station said lottery officials called them at about 11:15 a.m. Monday with the news — which involves a $100,000 retailer bonus — but did not reveal the name of the winner.

"I was kind of shocked. I had heard it was somebody from Norwich, Norwalk and then Stamford. I was pleasantly surprised," said Carol Angotta of Wilton, who co-owns the BP with Michael Lindquist.

Ranjit Singh, manager of the gas station, said he didn't know the winners and doesn't remember selling the winning ticket.

"We're really happy," Singh said. "Christmas is a little early."

Officials announced three weeks ago that the winning ticket was sold in Fairfield County. Rumors had swirled about winners searching for lost tickets in Stamford, Danbury and elsewhere.

Valerie Lamb, a specialist in the CT Lottery's marketing department, said earlier Monday the lottery security department was keeping information about the supposed winner under wraps from the public and lottery staff.

Billboards were posted across the state urging the ticket holder to step forward and end the mystery. A similar message was posted on display screens at 2,700 retailers.

The person who bought the ticket had six months to claim the prize, which ranks as the 12th biggest jackpot in Powerball history. The money would go back to the states that fed the pot if a winner did not come forward by April 30.

Kurland revealed that his clients learned they hit the jackpot a day after the winning ticket was purchased, only to think they were off by a number when an television report misreported the numbers.

"They actually got one of the numbers wrong," Kurland said of the telecast.

News story photo(Click to display full-size in gallery)

News story photo(Click to display full-size in gallery)

News story photo(Click to display full-size in gallery)

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

B$Rizzle's avatarB$Rizzle

a SINGLE ticket! Love it.

Goes to show buying 10, 20, 30+ tickets doesnt mean a dayum when it can be won with a single buck.

Congrats to these guys. Still, my favorite part is they pulled it off with a single QP!!

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

I'm glad these guys won it.

I can't stand poor people.

They stink.

CLETU$

Does this mean that the 2 guys who claimed that they lost the winning ticket don't get anything but their 15 + minutes of fame?Fame and NO fortune,bummer!Kind of bass ackwards if you ask me.

s5thomps's avatars5thomps

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Nov 28, 2011

I'm glad these guys won it.

I can't stand poor people.

They stink.

Green laugh Goes to show U that anyone can win. Just happened to be rich Wealth managers. (oh the irony!)

earthdragon72

Wait so what happens to the other 2 people who claimed that they lost their ticket? Will they be arrested or what?

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by s5thomps on Nov 28, 2011

Green laugh Goes to show U that anyone can win. Just happened to be rich Wealth managers. (oh the irony!)

God bless the rich.

Ya gotta love em.

VAHopeful's avatarVAHopeful

Anyone who knows about these things, if they obviously had to reveal names and give press conference, why did they create a trust instead of just having lotto cut 3 checks?

joshuacloak's avatarjoshuacloak

VAHopeful, they could of did a blind trust, or some muti trusts way,  no one would of got their names!

 

the lawyer is "real claimer" for trust, they never had to show up them self's! only lawyer

 

someone got to point this out as will.

for a  group of people who manage the assets of individuals and institutions

 their oftenly stupid, for not claiming within first 2 weeks

 

as lottery was earning bank interests past 2 week point,  , as all money is within 1 account lottery holds,  earning them self free money to keep long as winners take to long. this is what happens

 

point being, these people let massive amounts of bank interests go by waiting 1 more week. past 2 week point.

 

now rest is up for debate. should of they gone public.

their smart and dumb"trust claimed,    but showed up in person and did it via public trust info,  and we have their names,, could of remained hidden but noooooooooooooooooooooooo

, but their not stupid for that,     if they want fame they got it!   . if they wanted their company name out their, they got that too. so mission done, their names are out their,

 

sense their planning on giving massive amounts to charity anyway , i guest they jsut did not Care about lost money, ether, way, i would never trust these people to handle my money, if they Lost money by taking so long.

 

also rofl at tv station missing up,  folks, always go to source, usa mega or where usamega gets their numbers, lottery websites them selfs

i always enjoy how some tv station or paper miss printed the numbers, same story ever year, you have people who manuel input the numbers, ofc their going to be a typo

TheGameGrl's avatarTheGameGrl

IT was claimed fair and square, sorry that such jealousy runs rampant when the person(s) happen to have common sense and "KNOW" how to manage money in these times. Silly that folks cannot speak well of such fortune when it comes to persons who can invest properly. I'm sure the Store owner will invest his well by placing it in his pocket and in essence NOT sharing the wealth. At least these guys were straight up and are giving back to causes. Pity that it cannot be respected.

I respect them for not "hiding" or being Hermits. All on a one dollar QP! Who woulda thunk it was possible! :)

Congrats to these men !!

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Nov 28, 2011

I'm glad these guys won it.

I can't stand poor people.

They stink.

Even if the winners had been poor people, they wouldn't have been after claiming their winnings.

weshar75's avatarweshar75

Congrats to the winners.  I will get the next jackpot and enjoy it.-weshar75

Piaceri

Quote: Originally posted by on Mar 29, 2024

Bitter? Jealous much? You need to see someone about that, dude, these winnings do not belong to you. No one checks anyone's paystub before selling lottery tickets. Better head back to OW before they take your tent down. 

 

Congrats to the winners. It sounds like they will be doing much in the way of charity with this.

Hopefully these idiots who think they are owed something from hard working people who have done well in life will leave these guys along. I'm afraid that won't happen, especially after seeing it on this forum.

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

It's good that rich guys won. I think we can all agree on that.

When poor people win, they should have the money taken away from them and put in a trust fund so they don't blow it all right away. Then they can be allotted so much a week to get by and not enough for any stupid purchases like fancy cars or anything like that. They need to have someone in charge of their money so they don't get goofy with it.

I think 200 bucks a week should be plenty.

And there should be a law that they have to take baths at frequency levels to be determined by Congress.

Piaceri

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Nov 28, 2011

It's good that rich guys won. I think we can all agree on that.

When poor people win, they should have the money taken away from them and put in a trust fund so they don't blow it all right away. Then they can be allotted so much a week to get by and not enough for any stupid purchases like fancy cars or anything like that. They need to have someone in charge of their money so they don't get goofy with it.

I think 200 bucks a week should be plenty.

And there should be a law that they have to take baths at frequency levels to be determined by Congress.

rdgrnr --> Poke <-- jealous losers

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