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8A
Cljarlotte
THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 1998
STRICTLY BUSINESS
BET founder strikes deal to buy back stock shares
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Black Entertainment Tislevision
Chairman Robert Johnson is a
step closer to re-taldng total con
trol of the company.
The boardofBET Holdings Inc.,
BETs parent compare approved
a revised proposal by Johnson
and Liberty Media Corp. to pur
chase all outstanding shares of
Reduce
interest
rates
CHARLES ROSS
Your
Personal
Finance
Johnson, Liberty purchase is $63 a share
stock not already owned by them
for $63 a share. The board signed
a merger agreement with
Johnson, Liberty and their joint
ly-owned acquisition conqjony.
The preposed merger will be
voted on by BET shareholders at
a special meeting this summer.
Johnson and liberty had previ
ously offered to purchase all out
standing shares of BET common
stock for $48 per share last
September, but were tgjected.
Among those who spumed the
offir was Johnsoris sister, who
fUedalawsuit charging herbroth-
er was trying topushasidefirmily
members who helped build BET
from die ground up.
“We believe this is an important
step firr BET Holdings Inc, which
continues to show significant
progress and growdi as a compa
ny,” said Debra Lee, president
and chiefeperating officer of BET
Holdings Inc. "The action by the
boardofdirectors indicates that it
believed approval of the offer was
in the best interest of the compa-
ny.”
Johnson has led BETs expan
sion on several fronts in recent
years, including BET Sound
Stage restaurant-clubs in
landover, Md, and Walt Disney
World in Orlando, Fla.; credit
cards and movie and jazz chan-
Consumer debt continues to
rise, and credit cards now
account for an amazing one-third
of that debt. If your credit cards
charge you high interest rates,
your debt is building up faster
than it has to. Ifthe rate you pay
is near 18 percent or even higher,
consider dumping the card and
finding a card issuer that will
give you a lower rate. If your
bank is the card issuer, try sim
ply asking for a lower rate.
Sometimes the bank will agree
based on a goodpayment record.
Think about how you use your
card. Ifyou finance your balance
every month, find a low-rate
card; some are as low as 12 or 13
percent. But if you pay off the
balance every month, the inter
est rate doesrit matter. So get a
card that has no annual fee.
Then the card is free.
Variable rate and debit card
Ifyou carry a credit card bed-
ance of two thousand dollars,
which is just average, you pay
three hundredandsixtydollarsa
year in interest at a rate of eigh
teen-percent. Yes, it's convenient.
But you am eut the costs.
Ifyodre carrying a card with a
variable rate, switch to a fixed-
rate card. The variables am
jump to a national average of
over sixteen percent after a few
months. Dorit choose a card just
on the basis of the rate. Check
the annual fee, typically twenty
to forty dciUars, and the grace
period. Be careful not to incur
hidden fees fi)r cash advances, or
for getting your monthly pay
ment in late.
Finally, consider a debit card
insteeul of a credit and. The pur
chase amount is deducted from
your checking account, meaning
no interest, ami a debit card cem
help you memage your purchases
better.
Six stock funds are enough
With the fund compeaues con
stantly cultivating tempdng new
offerings, you may feel like buy
ing one of everything. But a
newly published study suggests
that six funds are probably
enough. With six funds you
achieve good diversification,
which helps reduce risk in your
portfolio while offering healthy
earnings.
How do you decide which funds
to buy? Experts say you should
mix growth, funds and value
funds. Growth funds favor com
panies posting rapidly rising
earnings, while value funds hold
slocks of companies thought tobe
selling below their true value.
You should also choose funds
that target stocks of different size
companies. So the ideal portfolio
would have six funds, three
growth funds and three value
funds spedaBzinginsmadjnedi-
um and huge companies.
Women, stop paying more
Every day women pay more
See REDUCE on page 9A
Double team
Former Harlem Globetrotter Clyde Austin (right) traded in his basketbaii shoes for ownership of the Raleigh Cougars of the United
States Basketbaii League. The USBL is a minor ieague that acts as a feeder system to the other professionai leagues, including
the Nationai Basketbaii Association.
Court is where the profits are
By Bonitta Best
CONSOUDATED MEDIA GROUP
RALEIGH - Some 15 years
ago, Harlem Globetrotter
teammates Clyde Austin and
James ‘Twiggy” Sanders
looked around at 19,000or so
screaming fans, did some
quick math and came to the
same conclusion; They were
on the wrong end of the busi
ness.
That was then. This is now.
Austin is owner of the
United States Basketball
Leaguds Raleigh Cougars
and Sanders was recently
hired to replace first-year
head coach Rick Ross. Now,
Austin and Sanders are
doing addition and subtrac
tion full time.
“Owning a team was
always a dream of ours
because we know basket
ball,” said Sanders, Johnson
C. Smith graduate and a
Globetrotter for 18 years.
“Clyde was the point guard,
leader and captain, and I ivas
the starter show. After a few
years, we started getting
called in on management
meetings. Vfe saw how the
business side worked and we
learned.”
Austin, who starred with
the Globetrotters for 10
years, is a distinguished
business executive in his own
right. He is Chairman of the
Board of Banker’s
International Trust (BIT)
and Chairman of BIT
Eurasia. A native of
Richmond, Va., and an N.C.
State graduate, he is one of
12 brothers and sisters.
Austin “gave birth” to the
Cougars on Feb. 6. Getting
the franchise was easy,
Austin says. But changing
the negative stereotypes was
the hard part.
Austin says he hasn’t for
gotten the day a reporter
friend informed him col
leagues in the office were
taking bets on how soon the
Cougars would be run out of
town.
A city that worships its
sports teams to the point of
insanity failed to open its
arms and pocketbooks to two
previous professional
leagues, the World
Basketball League and the
United States Football
League, which were both dis
mal failures.
But Austin has beaten the
odds as well as the office
pools. Last year, the Cougars
led the league in both aver
age attendance per game and
total attendance in the
5,70()-seat Dorton Arena; the
team finished second in the
South Division, but lost in
the semifinals of the playoffs
to the eventual champion
Atlantic City Seagulls.
‘Last year there were so
many negatives in building a
professional franchise at the
level that wdre building
from,” Austin said. ‘The
WBL came in and was a fail
ure. The USFL was a failure.
There had been so irumy fail
ures that when people saw us
come in, the stigma was
already there that we were
See HOOP on page 9A
Service, and professional, too
OMAR DILLARD
Successful financial counselors
make customers feel special
Its a common misconception
that wealthy people are treated
with rrurre respect. But a recent
study in the firumdal publication
On Wall Street found that ordy
26.7 percent of the 879 affluent
irwestors interviewed were very
satisfied with their irwestment
professumals.Lookingatitrmoth-
er way, about three-fourths
wererittoohafgry.
What does it take to satisfy the
high-net-worth irwestor? The
article identified seven service
firctors, excludirtg technical com-
peterwe and irwestment perfbr-
rrumce, that dgruficrmtly infiu-
erwedekent satisfaction.
The conqreterwe factor; Big-
trumey investors uxmt eviderwe of
technical prowess. For example,
they expect clippings andreprints
of articles relating to their invest
ments. They leant their financial
specialists to attend seminars and
lectures to learn the latest think
ing in the investment world They
want demonstrated competence,
not empty boasting.
The no-surprise factor. Affluent
investors understand the market
inevitably fluctuates. They want
to be told right away if something
is wrong. More irrqxrrtant, they
wanttoknowwhafsbeiigdoneto
respond to the situation.
The hustle factor: The affluent
want to think the^re special The
most satisfied clients think of
their financial professionals as
perfectionists. They hustle, and
they get things right the first
time.
The warmth factor. This isrit
about radiating a warm, fuzzy
feeling. Its about being emotion
ally attuned ami empathetic. It
means understartding another
persoris situation and being able
to listen ami sutruiuaize the cen
tral theme of a corwersation.
The first-to-krww factor:
Satisfied clients are those who are
kept upto date. They want to
hear about events that affect, or
could affect, their portfolios. They
leant to hear it first from their
brokers.
The listening factor: The most
satisfied wealthy clients say their
financial professionals never
show impatience. The focus
should be on the clients agenda,
and the ordy way to do that effec
tively is to listen.
The client-centered factor;
Affluent clients believe their
needs are unique. They want cus
tomized, individually tailored
solutions. Satisfied clients say
their investment representatives
interact with them, reinfbrcing
this feeling of uniqueness.
Regardless of the she of your
portfolio, your money is impor
tant to you. Ai^ financial profis-
siorud who accepts your business
should be committed to offering
you the best service possible.
These seven service factors are an
excellent checklist to test your
current professional or help you
select a new one.
OMAR DILLARD is an invest
ment counsdor at Edward Jones
nelson cable and satellite TV.
Completion of the merger is
subjecttoeqrprovalby holders ofa
rmyority of shares not held i>y
Johnson and Liberty. There are
other conttitions for approval,
such as receipt of sufficierit
financing, receipt of govemmen-
Ud and regulatory cqjproval arid
conserds and abserwe oflitigation,
including taivsuits challenging
the proposed merger.
Money
Management *
Make the i
most of
exemption
Dependents can
bring major tax
relief at filing time "
By Amanda Danchi
SPECIAL TO THE POST
You might be surprised to
learn that the personal exemp
tion is as old as the irwome tad
itself.
Back in 1913, the first year of
income tax filing, every taxpay
er was given apersoned exempt
tion of $3,000. There were no
deductions, no tax credits, no
adjustments to irwome. Taxlcuv
has been revised countless
times since then, but the per-
sonal exerrqrtion hers survived.
And while the arrumnt is now
smcdler, every taxpayer still
gets to deduct personal exemp
tions from his or her taxable
irwome. The North Carolina
Association of CPAs says its
important to understarul the
rules governing personed
exemptions so you can make
the most of the exemptions
available to you.
For 1997, the personal
exemption rrwans taxpayers
who qualify can deduct $2,650
from taxable irworrw. So, in
effect, that the first $2,650 you
earn is not taxed. In addition Ur
your personed exerrqrtion, yoil
also are entitled to a persorud
exemption for your spouse)
when married filingjointly, and
for each dependent you cdji
claim-
Dependency exemption test*
To claim a dependency
exemption, five test must be
met.l) Generally, you must
have provided rrurre than hcdjf
the persons support. Support
includes cash, food and lodgir^
education, rrwdical and dentql
care, recreation, transportaf-
tion, clothing and laundry, and
other necessities. 2) The per
soris gross irworrw for the cal:
endar year must be less thak
the persorwd exemption
amount. Gross irworrw irwbides
all income that is rurt exempt
from tax. If your dependekt
child is under age 29 at the end
of the year or is a fidlrtime stu-
dent under the age of 24, the
gross irworrw test does rwt
apply. 3) The person must be d
relative or live full tirrw in yoiip
household. Relatives irwlude
parents, siblings, children)
grandchildren, stepchildren,
nieces and nephews, aunts arid
uncles, and other family reld-
tions. Relatives need rurt lirM
with you in order to qualify d$
dependents. However, if the
person you are claiming as d
dependent is rurt a relative, he
or she must live with you full
tirrw. 4) Your dependent must
be a US. citizen or resident, a
US. natUrrwd, orw of certairi
legally adopted children of US ',
citizens or natioruds, or a resi:
dent of Canada or Mexico for
sorrw peart of the tax year. 5)
The person must rwt file a joint
tax return with his or her
See EXEMPTIONS on page 9A.,