This is exactly the reason, imo, that we're thinking way too small on this whole tragic event. Insurance payouts? Ladies and gents, there were multiple millions, if not billions of dollars at stake here, with a new 8 million dollar hangar up and ready to roll and lucrative contracts with Boeing (AKA military), Airbus and much more all in the net. As of Jan 1, who owns all this? A 27 year old kid who, by his grandfather's admission, wasn't particularly interested in the airline business with only one other close family member available to counsel him, namely his mum who seems, by all reports to be a very nice lady who used to accompany her husband on 'save the seals' film shoots etc. . She seems hardly a person with the knowledge or experience that advising an overnight aviation tycoon presumably requires. In other words the whole purseful of holdings including cash, business assets and real estate, and goodness knows what all else profitable investments, as of less than six months ago, is suddenly in incredibly vulnerable hands.
Anybody who has ever come into a large amount of money unexpectedly knows full well that one suddenly acquires the most fascinating assortment of agreeable new friends. Fabulously interesting strangers with great business ideas appear. Long lost family members are dropping by and neighbors never miss the chance to invite you over. All of these and more find a way to insinuate themselves into your close circle almost magically. It's as if cold cash has its own phenome attraction but until it happens, you don't know that all these wonderful people will disappear just as suddenly when they've relieved you of all your cash and/or celebrity and it's gone. You have to be pretty savvy to pick up on this and stay grounded while it's happening. You almost have to have gone through it once, imo, to even recognize it. Frankly, I don't think a young guy with DM's background could possibly deal with it and, arguably, I'm not sure his father was doing a crackerjack job of rebuilding CM's company either. WM's decision to take on the extraordinarily high risk of the Waterloo airport venture seems quite out of character from all we know about this chap and his years of ecological and animal causes. Documentary filmmaking seems to have been his principal interest. Aviation tycoon never seemed to be in the mix and his aversion to competition was even referenced in the Obituary. So what or who convinced him to take such a dramatic leap at his age?
Well, the old saying is "rags to rags" in three generations but, imo, one contributing factor comes from the pressure of trusted advisors along the way who have everything to gain by positioning themselves inside your world and are always looking to improve their advantage. Of course, another contributing factor, where power and money are big enough, is that cutthroat competitors also materialize, missing no opportunity to cut you down and whose tactics can range all the way from gentlemanly contest to flat out gangsterism.
So, follow the money. I suppose the obvious start is to ask who benefits most by having MillardAir completely out of the picture in the intensely competitive aviation industry? Another question might be who benefits most by having the Millard family personal fortunes floating free with nobody at the helm. In either case, with father dead and junior in the slammer, the whole field is pretty much cleared for the taking in less than six months.
That's why, IMO this case is likely far more complex than it appeared at the outset, potentially involving persons, organizations and businesses that could have had much larger designs on this closely held family company than we presently know about and could certainly have led to a frameup or frameups. The chicanery could well have been in the making over several months or more, all culminating in this DM episode which is just one small scene. I'm even thinking that this story may reach high enough that really, we may never learn much more about it from the authorities but instead it will just gradually disappear leaving junior in the hoosegow for a couple of years, no trial, eventually released on some technicality while the real black hats continue to feast on the proceeds of their crime(s).
Sound paranoid? Well, when there's cash and opportunity in such quantum amounts lying around unattended there are always takers. Ruthlessness goes with their territory. OOM
