• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, August 15, 2019

Believe it or not, the KSL Media bankruptcy case -- which began six years ago -- is still open.

But the trustee overseeing the case recently filed a massive 600-page “Final Report” related to the case, signaling that closure may be near. A hearing on the report was held earlier this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in California.

The report identifies over 500 unsecured creditors and an array of priority claimants, including lawyers and accountants and other professionals working the case, as well as various governmental tax authorities.

As you can imagine, the tax claims were paid in full. The unsecured creditors -- including a Who’s Who of media companies like CBS, NBC Universal, Hulu and many others, as well as a whole host of other vendors -- will be receiving about 33 cents on the dollar.

According to a summary of the Final Report filed with the court, approved disbursements totaled $40.4 million. Total professional fees approached $20 million.

The case has been filled with twists and turns. At one point, the Trustee David Gottlieb sued KSL founder Kal Liebowitz and several other senior executives for gross negligence in U.S. District Court, but the case was tossed.

Gottlieb alleged the agency used client funds earmarked for media spend to run the company. By almost any standard, that’s considered a no-no.

No word on what Liebowitz is up to these days. He has been keeping a pretty low profile.