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Host Randall Roth, a law professor specializing in trust law, presented the key findings of the Matsumoto Report — the second installment of court-appointed master Cobert Matsumoto's review of the Bishop Estate — filed two days before the broadcast. With no studio guests, Roth summarized what he described as the report's principal findings: that the estate's average total investment return was negative one percent for fiscal years 1994 through 1996, contradicting trustees' claims of a 17.3 percent compound annual return; that hundreds of millions of dollars of income designated by Princess Pauahi's will for educating Hawaiian children had been diverted without court authorization; that no comprehensive strategic plan existed despite repeated court orders; and that trust funds had been used to lobby against intermediate sanctions legislation that would have protected the estate. Callers raised questions about whether a large Goldman Sachs investment offset the poor overall record, whether low-return residential leases distorted the figures, whether the trustees were simply waiting out their critics, and whether any conduct amounted to criminal liability. The central question is whether the court will compel removal of the trustees and recovery of misused funds.
Transcript
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