A jury awarded the founder of U-Haul International and several members of his family $1.47 billion in a lawsuit against three other family members.
Friday's jury verdict in Maricopa County Superior Court capped a seven-week trial of a civil suit brought in 1988 by founder L.S. Shoen and others against his son, U-Haul chief executive Joe Shoen, and his allies.U-Haul International and its parent company, holding company Amerco, were not parties in the suit and will operate as usual, spokeswoman Janet Cooper said. L.S. Shoen and the other so-called U-Haul "outsiders" hold 47.2 percent of Amerco stock. Joe Shoen and company "insiders" hold 47.6 percent, giving them control.
The outsiders claimed the insiders thwarted a 1988 deal that would have given them control of Amerco and allowed them to sell the company. They claimed Joe Shoen killed the deal by issuing 8,099 shares of Amerco stock to five key U-Haul employees, tipping the stock balance back to Joe, who took over Amerco from older brother Sam in 1986.