Posted on 02/10/2008 5:52:39 AM PST by Dysart
For more than 75 years the Hunt family has meant big money in Big D, and often big news, too.
Eccentric oilman H.L. Hunt built the world's largest fortune and secretly supported three families at the same time. His children built Reunion Tower and the Mansion on Turtle Creek, coined the term "Super Bowl," infamously failed to corner the silver market, and recently signed an eyebrow-raising oil deal in Iraq.
But the branch of his family led by his eldest daughter, Margaret Hunt Hill, lived quietly. She flew coach, attended charity galas and became the glue that held the family together. Last summer after she died at 91, her heirs went to war, pushing a private family into the public arena. One of her grandchildren, Albert Galatyn Hill III, sued almost the entire family, accusing his relatives of conspiring to plunder the family trusts and defraud the Internal Revenue Service. Al III – who's lost his jobs with the family business and been cut off from most of his inheritance – says he's defending his great-grandfather's legacy by blocking a plan to divvy up the trusts, which own Hunt Petroleum.
His relatives accuse Al III of trying to publicly embarrass his family for a payoff to support a lifestyle extravagant even for a descendant of one of the world's richest families.
At stake: two trusts, belonging to Margaret and her late brother Hassie, with an estimated worth of $2 billion to $4 billion.
"How can you fight over this much money?" asks Lyda Hill, Margaret's daughter and a defendant in the suit. "There's just no way. It doesn't make sense."
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
Oilman H.L. Hunt was known for his eccentricities. At age 83, he demonstrated his “creeping” exercises, which he'd do for two or three minutes several times a day. The billionaire, who had families with three women, also believed that he possessed a “genius gene” that he was obligated to pass on to the world.
Al Hill Jr., who once backed his son, now says Al III seeks a payoff to support a lavish lifestyle
Al Hill III says he's defending great- grandfather H.L. Hunt's legacy by blocking a plan to divvy up the family trusts.
Behind every great fortune lies some great nutjob.
What a bunch of degenerates. This is why we don’t need an inheritance to prevent dynasties. Regression towards the mean takes care of the idiot sons and daughters. “genious gene” indeed.
I’ve read several biographies about H.L. As you would expect, none give him credit for his sharp business acumen.
History accuses Hunt of “stealing” C. M. ‘Dad’ Joiner’s leases in the East Texas Oil Field, when in reality it was a legitimate business transaction. Joiner was under tremendous pressure from creditors and shareholders to whom he owed much money. Hunt negotiated settlements to all the claimants when he bought Joiner’s leases and they were glad to get the money.
I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss H. L. Hunt. He was politically conservative and backed Douglas MacArthur for President in 1951. The Drive-By Media and like-minded historians like to poke fun at the family. To them, all conservatives are nutjobs.
The Drive-By Media have had it in for the Hunt family ever since H.L. proclaimed his conservatism 75 years ago. It’s easy to see the narrative whenever they write something concerning the Hunts.
I'd like to try.
I'm not being dismissive. But if people like Hunt were normal then they would be...us.
Rush Limbaugh was right when he said the biggest problem rich people have is their children.
Lol. Defrauding the IRS? More power to them.
In the early seventies H L Hunt set up a booth at the Texas State Fair selling HLH Gastro-Majic indigestion pills. I’m deadly serious I was 23 years old and fresh out of the Marine Corps when I turned the corner and there was H L Hunt. Surprisingly there was no one around and I stepped up to the booth and quite frankly shot the sh$t with one of the worlds richest men. I found him to be witty and self deprecating. I will of course never forget those few moments. I believe he did have a genius gene. I liked him!
Good plan Al#3. Get the IRS involved. That’ll increase your fortune.
In the 1971 movie “Executive Action”, I’ve always believed that H.L. Hunt was the character filmed from behind, watching a Kennedy speech, who then picked up the phone and said “Go”.
His ties to Johnson completed the picture for me.
Good story.
Ross Perot favored me once with his business and I even went to his estate. He’s another charming, if eccentric, genius. And fortunately for him and his legacy, he doesn’t have similar problems with his offspring as we see with the Hunt clan. (And far too many others)
I just finished reading the article through and through. Al III’s lawyer probably did all the research and gave it to the reporters. The DMN jumped at the opportunity to dish dirt on their favorite bourgeois target.
As opposed to say, the Kennedy Family, who while also flawed, have redeemed themselves to the Drive-Bys because they do something called ‘public service.’ What the Kennedy family does is for the Greater Good, doncha see.
Read the whole interesting article. Not a word about Bunker and others. What am I missing? Seems they’re fighting over $2-4-billion, which in the whole scheme of things these days doesn’t seem like much. What entity, for example, cut the oil deal with Iraq? BTW, although I never met H. L., I am aware that years ago he was more interested in talking about his HLH food products than his oil interests, etc. Old joke went something like this: When asked whether he was concerned that Lamar was losing some number of millions every year on the K. C. Chiefs, he replied that yes he was concerned because it meant that in a hundred years Lamar would be broke.
Very interesting read bump.
LBT
......
I recall when he said that. It ranks right up there with John Rockefeller when asked how to get rich:
(1)Early to bed
(2)Early to rise
(3) Strike oil
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