But for ego reasons and financial reasons, we decided not to sell to a real estate trust right now.

The decision would be a lot easier had those who ran the real estate trust been more attuned to the possibilities of default.

But the real estate trust's board went on assuming that no default would occur.

Unibail, a French property company that was transformed into a real estate trust in 2003, is one of its largest.

More recently, Mitsubishi considered a bid of slightly less than $300 million for the stock of the real estate trust, or about $7.50 a share.

Leucadia also said that it might seek a seat on the real estate trust's board.

Also, traders who expect the stock market to slump often turn to real estate trusts.

Her letter resulted in a public outcry over the management of the estate trust.

A spokeswoman for the real estate trust said it had not received any proposal from shareholders.

In later years, the real estate trust bought back some of those bonds, borrowing money by selling short-term commercial paper.