Executors of Leona Helmsley’s will: We want $100M

The four men say they've liquidated complex real estate holdings and settled legal disputes

From left: Empire State Building and Leona Helmsley
From left: Empire State Building and Leona Helmsley

The executors of Leona Helmsley’s will say the winding down of the $5.4 billion estate was extraordinarily complex — and they’re seeking a massive payout for their troubles.

The Four Men Are Asking A Surrogate Court judge to award them $100 million, or $25 million each, in compensation for their seven years of service.

During that time, the executors managed a sprawling portfolio of 84 real estate properties in 17 states and settled a number of posthumous legal disputes, reports DNAinfo.

The executors include the late-Helmsley’s two grandsons, David and Walter Panzirer, her lawyer Sandor Frankel and her friend John Codey. The men received prior payouts for their work on the estate, including $900,000 each in 2012.

Among the largest real estate holdings was Helmsley’s interest in the Empire State building, which the executors say they sold for $722 million. The exact property transfer total has been the subject of some dispute. The last major property to be disposed of — the 605-unit Park Lane Hotel — sold in November for $653 million, leaving just two smaller interests

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Helmsley, known as “The Queen of Mean” for her often tyrannical behavior, died in 2007. She was 87.

Proceeds from the sale of the estate’s property holdings have gone to the $4 billion Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. [DNAinfo]Tom DiChristopher