Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Despite pointing to his management of the Merchandise Mart as evidence of his business acumen, the reality is that Kennedy left the Mart in worse shape than when he started. Under Kennedy’s direction, the Mart lost millions, earning the moniker of “Worst-Performing Business Segment” of its parent company, Vornado Realty. Kennedy also structured the initial sale of the Mart to Vornado to avoid paying capital gains taxes.

REALITY CHECK:

• In 2010, the Mart Division of Vornado was recognized as the “Worst-Performing Business Segment,” losing almost $13 million over two years on Kennedy’s watch.
• Due to a carefully structured deal, Kennedy avoided capital gains taxes on nearly half the sale of Merchandise Mart to Vornado Realty.
• Kennedy even bragged about the deal at the time, calling it “a very attractive capital gains situation right now.”

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