CNET Founder Files Bankruptcy

Written by: Robert DeMarco
Halsey McLean Minor [“Minor”], founder of C|NET, filed a chapter 7 bankruptcy petition on May 24, 2013.  The bankruptcy case was filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, case no. 2:13-bk-23787-TD.  At this juncture, little can be discerned from Minor’s bankruptcy court documents.  Minor does, however, estimate his assets to be worth less than $50 million and that his liabilities exceed $50 million with less than 70 creditors.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Minor sold his interest in C|NET to CBS for approximately $1.7 billion in 2008.  Minor, however, was not a good steward of his money.  Minor’s subsequent spending spree likely led to his financial ruin.  As reported by The Bay Citizen on June 12, 2010, Minor’s financial challenges began shortly after 2008.  “Minor was in the midst of a prodigious spending spree: $20 million for a Bel Air house; $22 million for Le Petit Trianon; $7 million for a failed luxury-hotel project in Charlottesville, Va., Minor’s hometown; $25 million in bids for art at Sotheby’s and Christie’s; $15.3 million for a Virginia plantation; $6.3 million for two thoroughbred racehorses; a $3 million deposit on a now-canceled order for a top-of-the-line Gulfstream jet.”
These statements find support in Minor’s bankruptcy petition.  Minor, who filed the chapter 7 bankruptcy without his wife, identifies two affiliated bankruptcy cases wherein he was the managing member of the debtors.  Both of these bankruptcies were filed under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code and are currently pending.  The first business enterprise to file bankruptcy was Minor Family Hotels, LLC [“Hotels’].  Hotels filed for chapter 11 on September 1, 2010, and is currently pending in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia, case no. 10-62543.  The second business enterprise to file bankruptcy was Carter’s Grove, LLC [“Grove”], a historic residence, with underground museum and stables located on 750 acres on the north shore of the James River in Williamsburg, Virginia.  Grove filed for chapter 11 on February 14, 2011, and is currently pending in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, case no. 11-51330-SCS.
It is also noteworthy that Minor and his wife Shannon were listed as California’s top income-tax delinquents in 2011, owing the state $10.46 million, as reported by AllGov California on June 18, 2012.  With citizens like Minor, there is little mystery as to why California is in the middle of a financial crisis.
DATED:  May 31, 2013