Voting Station

H.L. Hunt

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Entrepreneur

The Resume

    (February 17, 1889-November 29, 1974)
    Born in Ramsey, Illinois
    Birth name was Haroldson Lafayette Hunt, Jr.
    Bought title to much of the East Texas Oil Field (1930)
    Formed Hunt Oil (1936), which became the largest independent oil producer in the US
    Funded Facts Forum to produce radio and TV programs of conservative and anti-Communist political commentary (1951-56)
    Believed to be the richest man in the world at the time of his death

Why he might be annoying:

    While married to his first wife, Lydia, he entered into a bigamous marriage with Frania Tye (1934).
    In a legal settlement with Tye, he established trust funds for their four children and she signed a document stating they had never been legally married (1941).
    He also fathered four children with his secretary, who became his second (or third) wife after Lydia's death.
    He provided funding for the far-right Minutemen and John Birch Society.
    He considered black Americans a political threat who should be deported to Africa.
    <15275>William F. Buckley<15275> complained that Hunt harmed the conservative cause with 'his yahoo bigotry and appallingly bad manners.'
    He designed his mansion to look like George Washington's Mount Vernon, but on a much larger scale.
    He became a health food faddist in a bid to reach the age of 100.

Why he might not be annoying:

    After a flood wiped out his cotton plantation, he turned his last $100 into more than $100,000 gambling in New Orleans (1917).
    His daughter Helen Lee died in the crash of Air France Flight 007 (June 3, 1962), the worst single-plane air disaster at the time.
    He was generous to his employees.
    From the mid-1930s until his death, his weekly income was over $1 million.
    J. Paul Getty, his main rival for the 'richest man in the world' title, said, 'In terms of extraordinary, independent wealth, there is only one man -- H.L. Hunt.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 83.33% Annoying