帝国大厦股权混战八十载见分晓？

102 Floors, 10 Million Bricks and One Tangled History
By CHARLES V. BAGLI July 31, 2013

帝国大厦股权混战八十载见分晓？
CHARLES V. BAGLI 2013年07月31日
The Empire State Building stands as an enduring symbol of New York City — and of the mayhem and legal conflict to which New York City real estate titans are prone. The most recent conflict, however, seems to be inching toward a resolution.
帝国大厦(The Empire State Building)是纽约永远的标志，也是纽约的房地产巨鳄们经常会陷入的混乱和法律冲突的象征。然而，最近发生的这场冲突，似乎将要指向一个解决之道。 
Last week, Peter L. Malkin and his son Anthony E. Malkin, who currently control the Empire State Building, drew closer to their goal of bundling the 102-story tower with 19 other properties to create a $5.2 billion company called Empire State Realty Trust that would offer shares to the public.
上周（2013年4月最后一周——译注），帝国大厦现任主人彼得·L·麦尔金(Peter L. Malkin)和他的儿子安东尼·E·麦尔金 (Anthony E. Malkin)离他们的宏伟目标更近了一步：将这座102层的大厦和另外19处房产捆绑在一起，成立一个市值52亿美元（约合人民币319.08亿元）、定名为“帝国房地产信托公司”(Empire State Realty Trust)的机构，进而公开上市。
The Malkins, whose stake in the new company is valued at $730 million, have spent the last year trying to convince shareholders to approve the consolidation. In what has turned into an ugly public feud, some shareholders have opposed the plan, saying that while it would be a rich deal for the Malkins, it could expose other investors to the ups and downs of the stock market.
麦尔金父子在新公司内所占股权约合7.3亿美元（约合人民币44.79亿元）。他们去年花费整整一年时间，试图说服众股东们同意这一合并。事情闹得沸沸扬扬，一些股东明确反对，他们说，这样做对于麦尔金父子来说当然是笔赚钱的买卖，但却会令其他投资人置于股票市场的上下振荡中。
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Todd Heisler/The New York Times
2013年4月最后一周，帝国大厦现任所有者麦尔金父子决定，将帝国大厦和另外19处房产捆绑，成立一个市值52亿美元的机构，进行公开上市。
But on Tuesday, Justice O. Peter Sherwood in State Supreme Court in Manhattan rejected an investor group’s challenge to the initial public offering. Two days later, he approved a $55 million settlement between a separate group of dissenting shareholders and Malkin Holdings. Stephen Meister, a lawyer for some stakeholders in the Empire State Building, has vowed to appeal both decisions.
但就在周二（4月30日——译注），位于曼哈顿的州最高法官O·彼得·舍伍德(O. Peter Sherwood)驳回了投资人团队对首次公开募股的质疑。两天后，他批准了麦尔金父子和一群持不同意见的股东之间一个规模5500万美元（约合人民币3.37亿元）的和解方案。帝国大厦部分股东的律师斯蒂芬·迈斯特(Stephen Meister)坚决表示要对上述两个决议提出上诉。
So far, more than 75 percent of the 3,000 shareholders in the Empire State Building have voted in favor of the Malkins’ deal; they need 80 percent. If the Malkins succeed, it will cap a long history of struggle to control what was memorably described in film as “the nearest thing we have to heaven in New York.”
到目前为止，在3000位股东中，超过75%的人向麦尔金父子的计划投了赞成票；而他们需要获得80%股东的支持。如果麦尔金父子最终获胜，就能挥别长久以来争端不断的历史，获得帝国大厦这个在电影中（即《金玉盟》[An Affair to Remember]——译注）被动人地形容为“全纽约最接近天堂的地方”的控制权。 
1930 Construction starts, eventually employing 3,400 workers, using 10 million bricks, 57,000 tons of steel, 473 miles of electrical wire and 200,000 cubic feet of Indiana limestone.
1930年，大厦开工修建，共雇用3400位工人，用了一千万块砖，57000吨钢材，473英里（约合761.20千米）长的电线和20万立方英尺（约合177.5万立方米）的印第安纳石灰石。 
1931 The $41 million Empire State Building opens on May 1, with Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt and former Gov. Alfred E. Smith, president of the Empire State Company, addressing more than 2,000 guests.
1931年，耗资4100万美元（约合人民币2.56亿元）的帝国大厦于5月1日正式落成，包括当时的（纽约州）州长富兰克林·D·罗斯福(Franklin D. Roosevelt)，前任州长、时任帝国大厦公司主席的阿尔弗莱德·E·史密斯(Alfred E. Smith)在内，共有2000多位宾客出席了开幕仪式。
1933 King Kong ascends the 102-story tower (at least on film).
1933年，金刚(King Kong)爬上了这座102层大厦的顶端（至少在电影中是这样的）。
1945 On July 28, a B-25 on a routine flight to Newark crashes into the north side of the fog-shrouded skyscraper, leaving a gash between the 78th and 80th floors and killing 14 people.
1945年，7月28日，一架飞往纽瓦克(Newark)的B-25轰炸机撞进这座被浓雾笼罩着的摩天大楼北面，大厦第78层到80层受损，14人在事故中遇难。
1951 In a deal valued at $34 million, the estate of John J. Raskob, who owned a controlling interest until his death in 1950, sells his stake to a group headed by Roger L. Stevens and Col. Henry J. Crown. The group sells the ground, or title, to Prudential Insurance Company for $17 million.
1951年，帝国大厦控股股东约翰·J·拉斯科布(John J. Raskob)于1950年去世，罗杰·L·史蒂文(Roger I. Stevens)和亨利·J·克朗上校(Col. Henry J. Crown)领导的财团以3400万美元（约合人民币2.09亿元）购得拉斯科布遗产基金会所持的大厦股份。财团以1700万美元（约合人民币1.04亿元）将大厦的地皮——或说所有权——卖给了保德信保险公司(Prudential Insurance Company)。
1954 Colonel Crown buys out his partners, becoming the sole owner of the building.
1954年，克朗上校买下了其他合伙人的全部股份，一举成为这座大厦唯一的主人。
1961 Harry B. Helmsley, Lawrence A. Wien and his son-in-law Peter Malkin buy control of the building in a $65 million syndication deal. Mr. Wien raises $33 million from more than 3,000 small investors who paid $10,000 for a single share in Empire State Building Associates; that entity subleases the building to a company controlled by Mr. Helmsley and Mr. Wien. At the same time, the group resells the land, or title, to Prudential Insurance for $29 million.
1961年，哈利·B·赫尔姆斯利(Harry B. Helmsley)、劳伦斯·A·维恩(Lawrence A. Wien)和他的女婿彼得·麦尔金(Peter Malkin)以6500万美元（约合人民币3.99亿元）买下大厦的控股权。维恩从超过3000位中小投资人那里募得了3300万美元（约合人民币2.02亿元）。这些投资人每人只需支付1万美元（约合人民币61361元），即可获得一份帝国大厦联合公司(Empire State Building Associates)的股份；而后者又将整栋大楼转租给了由赫尔姆斯利和维恩控股的另一家公司。与此同时，集团又以2900万美元（约合人民币1.78亿元）将大厦所有权再次卖给了保德信保险公司。
1991 Prudential sells the building’s title for $42 million to Oliver Grace Jr., who was secretly acting on behalf of Hideki Yokoi, a Japanese hotelier then serving a prison sentence in connection with a deadly fire at one of his hotels.
1991年，保德信保险公司将大厦的所有权以4200万美元（约合人民币2.58亿元）卖给了小奥利弗·格蕾丝(Oliver Grace Jr.)，而他实际是秘密代表日本巨富横井英树(Hideki Yokoi)出面完成的这桩交易。当时，这位酒店业的大亨正因其拥有的一家酒店的致命失火事件而在狱中服刑。
1995 Donald J. Trump, acting in concert with Mr. Yokoi’s daughter, Kiiko Nakahara, sues Empire State Building Associates, contending that Mr. Helmsley and Peter Malkin had turned the landmark tower into a “high-rise slum.” The legal battle would go on for seven years.
1995年，唐纳德·J·特朗普(Donald J. Trump)联合横井英树的女儿中原喜子(Kiiko Nakahara)起诉帝国大厦联合公司，称赫尔姆斯利和彼得·麦尔金将这座地标级的大厦变成了一座“高层贫民窟”。这场法律战持续了7年。
1997 Mr. Helmsley dies on Jan. 4. A nine-year struggle for control begins when Peter Malkin and his son Anthony Malkin sue Mr. Helmsley’s widow, Leona, and her husband’s former partners at Helmsley-Spear.
1997年，赫尔姆斯利于当年1月4日去世。一场为期9年的大厦控制权之争拉开序幕。彼得·麦尔金和他的儿子安东尼·麦尔金(Anthony Malkin)起诉了赫尔姆斯利的遗孀利昂娜(Leona)，以及她丈夫在Helmsley-Spear房地产公司的前合伙人。
2002 Having failed to break the lease, Mr. Yokoi, Ms. Nakahara and their agent, Mr. Trump, sell the title to the Malkins’ partnership, Empire State Building Associates, for $57.5 million.
2002年，由于未能解除租约，横井、中原和他们的经纪人川普将大厦所有权以5750万美元（约合人民币3.53亿元）卖给了麦尔金的合伙机构——帝国大厦联合公司。
2006 The Malkins wrest control of the property from Helmsley-Spear.
2006年，麦尔金父子从Helmsley-Spear公司那里夺回了对大厦的控制权。
2008 The owners embark on a $550 million upgrade of the tower and begin replacing hundreds of small tenants with higher-paying corporate tenants like Skanska, Lufthansa and LinkedIn.
2008年，大厦所有者斥资5.5亿美元（约合人民币33.75亿元）对大厦进行了升级改造，并开始淘汰数以百计的小租户，取而代之的是像瑞典斯堪雅建筑集团(Skanska)、德国汉莎航空公司(Lufthansa)和邻客音(LinkedIn)这样能支付更高房租的大公司。
2012 The Malkins file plans to form a $5.2 billion publicly traded real estate investment trust comprising 19 properties in the New York area, with the Empire State Building as the centerpiece. A small group of investors opposes the consolidation.
2012年，麦尔金父子提出计划，将帝国大厦作为核心资产，同另19处位于纽约地区的房产打包，组成一支高达52亿美元（约合人民币319.08亿元）的公开交易房地产信托投资基金。一小部分投资者反对这一合并计划。