J. Roderick MacArthur sued his late father's $1.5 billion foundation in 1984 and asked a court to liquidate it

John D. MacArthur owned Bankers Life and Casualty and land in Florida and New York. He died in 1978 worth more than $1 billion and left 92% of his estate to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. His will named the board: his son Rod, his wife Catherine, his lawyer, two Bankers Life officers and radio host Paul Harvey. Father and son had been estranged. In 1975 the father claimed Rod's collectible-plate company, the Bradford Exchange, and locked up its stock; Rod's employees took the inventory from the warehouse in trucks. In February 1984 Rod, still a director, sued eight fellow directors, accusing them of squandering assets, mismanaging the main asset and paying themselves excessive fees. He asked the court to liquidate the foundation and appoint another charity as receiver. On 20 June he added charges that it filed false tax returns for 1978 to 1982. On 27 July 1984 Chancellor Richard Curry let the claims proceed. The defendants included Jonas Salk and Murray Gell-Mann. In May 1984 the foundation sold Bankers Life to I.C.H. Corp. for $382 million to meet the 20% limit. Rod died of pancreatic cancer on 15 December 1984. The suits were dismissed^†.