Allegations of bribery have been made against the Haslam family, who owns the Cleveland Browns of the NFL.
According to a Cleveland-based story from WKYC, the Haslam family is being accused by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway holding firm of trying to bribe over six officials of Pilot, the biggest truck stop chain in North America:
“Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway says the billionaire Haslam family tried to bribe at least 15 executives at the Pilot truck stop chain with millions of dollars to get them to inflate the company’s profits this year because that would force Berkshire to pay more for the Haslams’ remaining 20% stake in the company.
The Berkshire claim in a counter lawsuit filed this week comes after the Haslam family — which includes Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and former Tennessee governor Bill Haslam — accused Berkshire of trying to understate Pilot’s earnings this year by changing its accounting practices.”
According to the allegation, Jimmy Haslam is accused of giving executives large bonuses that exceed their yearly salaries. On Thursday, WKYC said, Berkshire’s Hathaway lawsuit will go to trial.
Pilot was founded by Jim Haslam, Jimmy’s father. Jimmy holds the position of chairman for the company, which was founded in 1981.
Haslam paid $1 billion to acquire the Cleveland Browns team in 2012. The Browns didn’t have a winning season in the first eight years of his ownership, which left a lot to be desired.
Berkshire Hathaway says the billionaire Haslam family tried to bribe at least 15 executives at the Pilot truck stop chain with millions of dollars to get them to inflate the company’s profits this year. Here's why: https://t.co/JkzYzt6m8N
— fox8news (@fox8news) November 29, 2023
The only other NFL teams to go winless in a 16-game regular season are the 2008 Detroit Lions and the Browns, who were a league-worst 1-15 in 2016 and 0-16 in 2017.
With an 11-5 record, Cleveland made it into the 2020 postseason. They surprised the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card Round to win the team’s first postseason game since 1994.
The Browns have a 7-4 record going into Week 13 and are still very much in the running for the AFC North division title, despite a quarterback turnover rate.
