Rodney Berdett Janes (October 21, 1892 – May 26, 1973) was an American businessman and politician from New York.
When the executors finally sold the Eastman Kodak stock to set up the trust funds, the value had dropped below $50 a share, and the case went to court.
The New York Attorney General, on behalf of the charities which would have received much more money, claimed that Janes's highly concentrated stock portfolio should have been sold and diversified as soon as possible.
Eventually the case was decided by the New York Court of Appeals in 1997, ordering the executor (Lincoln First Bank of Rochester) to pay damages of more than $4,000,000.
[3] The Rochester Area Community Foundation hands out the Rodney B. Janes Award for Private or Parochial High School and the Rodney B. Janes Business, Vocational or Technical Award.