Tom Benson sues trustee for shares of Saints, Pelicans

NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson is suing in federal court to regain assets in his pro teams from trusts he had set up for recently estranged heirs.

The lawsuit named trustee Robert Rosenthal as the defendant. The lawsuit contends that Rosenthal has unlawfully rejected Benson’s plan to swap $556 million in promissory notes into the trusts for his daughter Renee, and her two children, in exchange for shares in the two teams.

Tom Benson announced in January that he was removing his daughter and her children from ownership and executive positions and, upon his death, would leave control of his business empire to his third wife, Gayle, whom he married in 2004.