With the recent death of Al Davis, there is a lot of speculation about whether his great wealth will result in great estate taxes and whether those taxes will necessitate selling some or all of Davis' ownership in the Oakland Raiders football team.  Some commentators float the idea, apparently missing the point that with an unlimited marital deduction available to Davis' wife which would mean there would be no estate tax due on anything she inherits from her husband.  Others report that Davis had a comprehensive plan in place that will not require sale of the team.  Yet all reports lack details, do this Forbes article speculates as to how that might have been accomplished, referencing the marital deduction and giving a very quick wave to ideas like charitable planning or life insurance. 

What I find noteworthy here is that the media is likely to never know the details.  With his lifetime reticence about his financial affairs, it won't surprise me that Davis did comprehensive estate planning that never required any public disclosure of his plan or his assets.  That would have involved the use of trusts and business entities that can operate behind the veil and away from prying media eyes.  If we never hear much about the details or results of Davis' plan I bet he would have considered that successful estate and business planning.