Gloria Mackenzie is one of the best-known Powerball winners of all time. She made history when she scooped a $590 million jackpot back in 2013. She was 83 years old at the time and she shared her lottery winnings with her son, Scott. She also gave him power of attorney for her half of the Powerball jackpot. Now, eight years after her big win, Mrs. Mackenzie is filing a lawsuit against her son for having made poor investments with her lottery money.
The Convoluted Story of the Mackenzie Fortune
Scott Mackenzie promised he would take care of his mother for the rest of her life. He got half of one of the biggest Powerball jackpots of all times, as well as the power of decision over the other half of the prize. His mother said that she doesn’t have enough experience with handling such large amounts of money. This was the main reason why she left her money in his care.
Mr. Mackenzie invested quite a lot of the Powerball jackpot in CD companies and money market accounts. According to Greg Anderson, Gloria Mackenzie’s attorney, “The money was earning between .02% and .08%”, which is not by far a significant profit. “Then Gloria was charged $2 million in fees.”, he said. This is how Scott’s investments ended up costing her much more than they earned. According to the lawsuit, her damages amounted to over $10 million.
While this type of evidence is self-explanatory, Scott Mackenzie has a different view on things. He does not deny the facts, but he does not believe that a lawsuit is necessary simply because the investments did not go as his mother would have liked them to.
He said that “are based solely on allegations that Scott introduced Gloria to an investment adviser who put her in conservative investment vehicles, in accordance with her chosen investment objectives, and effectively preserved her wealth.”
Mackenzie vs. Mackenzie vs. Mackenzie
Mrs. Mackenzie’s daughter also had a very important part to play in this story. According to the case files, she had told her mother that financial adviser Hank Madden had previously faced professional discipline. When he found out about this, Scott threatened to disinherit them, which does not put him in a positive light.
At the moment, Scott Mackenzie’s lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. They claimed that the investment accounts made on behalf of Mrs. Makenzie did not lose any money and that she was the one who wanted her winnings invested conservatively.
It remains to be seen if Mr. Mackenzie will succeed in having the lawsuit dropped or if he will end up having to pay damages to his mother. Until then, “he will respect his family’s privacy by reserving any further comments until the case has been concluded,” said Lee Wedekind III, Scott Mackenzie’s attorney.
