$15/share and the transaction was approved by the shareholder class. Prior to the shareholders vote, Sullivan pushed a bill through the Massachusetts legislature that allowed companies to buy back non-voting public shares if a majority of shareholders voted in favor, rather than the two-thirds vote that was required before the law was passed. Class action lawsuit One shareholder refused to tender his shares and filed suit. In 1986, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court found the purchase of the minority shareholders was illegal, since it was for Sullivan's personal benefit. The court deemed his actions constituted a waste of corporate assets. The court ordered that the shareholders be paid $80 per share plus 9% interest per year since the purchase was completed. Selling the team A series of bad investments in the 1980s, the biggest being The Jackson Five 1984 Victory Tour (bankrolled by son and heir apparent Chuck), forced Sullivan to put the Patriots on the market. The Sullivans had never been among the wealthier NFL owners; by at least one estimate, the losses from the tour equaled the Sullivans' net worth. The Victory Tour losses were particularly hard on the Patriots because Sullivan had only been able to get financing for the tour by pledging Sullivan Stadium as collateral. Even with the Patriots making the Super Bowl in 1985, the revenue from the team was not enough to service the debt. With no other way to readily pay back the debt, the Sullivans put both the team and the stadium on the market in 1985 for $100 million. In 1988, Sullivan asked the NFL if he could sell 50% of the team in a public offering. The NFL refused the request, and instead appointed a four-man committee vested with what amounted to "wartime powers" to use any means settle the Patriots' finances, up to and including selling the team. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle made clear that it would be untenable for the Patriots to stay in Sullivan's hands, saying that the only resolution was "selling the controlling interest" in the team. One of the committee members, Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Hugh Culverhouse, expressed a similar sentiment, saying that there was "no resolution" for the team under Sullivan's ownership. In hopes of finding a way out, Sullivan asked Reebok CEO Paul Fireman to purchase a stake in the team. When that effort failed, Sullivan was forced to sell the team