Two former media executives have agreed to pay more than $7.8 million from insurance policies to end two lawsuits brought on by federal pension officials and unsecured creditors over their alleged mishandling of retirement money of Freedom Communications Inc., the company that once owned California’s Orange County Register, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Bankruptcy Judge Mark S. Wallace has signed off on a deal between pension officials, creditors and Freedom Communications’ former chief executive Aaron B. Kushner and former president Eric J. Spitz. The settlement resolves the claims made by the committee representing Freedom Communications’ unsecured creditors—among them the newspaper’s former staffers—and its largest unsecured creditor, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which serves as a federal safety net for retirement savings. The settlement pact ends extensive negotiations that began with mediation in December 2017 and spanned about 17 months. Money for the settlement isn’t actually coming out of the pockets of the former executives. Rather, insurers Chubb Ltd. and Hiscox Insurance Co. are paying the total amount earmarked for the committee and the PBGC.
