Warm and unassuming Wall Street titan Lionel Pincus, who had been mentally incapacitated since 2006 after a stroke, died this weekend at the age of 78. Perhaps unbeknownst to him, in his final months of life his sons and his longtime companion were locked in a battle over his estate — specifically, over a spectacular penthouse in the Pierre Hotel that his girlfriend, Princess Firyal of Jordan, had convinced him to buy for the two of them to live in together. Pincus’s two sons had put the duplex apartment on the market in late 2007 for $50 million. But Firyal, who had reached a settlement with them in other inheritance matters, did her best to block potential buyers from seeing the 7,000-square-foot palace. In fact, she so successfully threw interference at a possible sale that the apartment is still on the market today (though for a mere $35 million now). According to a stipulation in Pincus’s will, that means that it goes to Firyal. Had his sons been able to sell it before his death, they would have been able to pocket the change for themselves the proceeds would have gone to charity. There is, of course, ongoing litigation over the whole mess. But at the moment, it seems, for the princess, the death of her boyfriend is … a win?
Wall St. titan Lionel Pincus dies; estate feud rages between two sons and Jordanian princess [NYDN]
Update: A source tells us that at this point, legal matters between the princess and the Pincuses have been settled.
