For the first time in his seven-year tenure with the
team, Red Sox CEO John Harrington released detailed
information Saturday on the trust that controls the
franchise and the two charitable foundations established by
the late Tom and Jean Yawkey, according to Meg Vaillancourt
of the BOSTON GLOBE. Harrington, who serves as a trustee of
the Yawkey Trusts and Foundations and as executor of Jean
Yawkey's estate, "took the unusual step of issuing a six-
page document clarifying his role in managing the trusts,
two foundations and the Red Sox." Harrington wrote that the
report "was intended as a point-by-point rebuttal" to the
Boston Herald report (See THE DAILY, 3/17) saying that he
"exclusively controlled the Yawkey Trusts and Foundations
and improperly used them to enrich himself." The document
was to be delivered to the Red Sox limited partners and all
of the team's employees. Harrington: "The allegation that I
wielded unlimited power for my own personal benefit is
utterly false. I take my fiduciary responsibility as a
trustee very seriously and have always acted in what I
believe are the best interests of the Yawkey Trusts and
Foundations and the wishes of the Yawkeys." Harrington
described the Herald report as "littered with gross factual
errors," and said that he did not have "sole control" over
the Yawkey Foundation. He also noted that his total
compensation was "substantially less" than the $2M a year
reported by the Herald, and "vehemently denied suggestions
that he had secretly transferred Red Sox-owned property to a
real estate trust under his sole control and from which he
might personally profit" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/21). The Red Sox
posted Harrington's letter on its Web site, www.redsox.com,
and e-mailed it to its Web subscribers (THE DAILY).
