Howard Hughes
Born: 1905
Died: 1976
Source of Wealth: Entertainment, aerospace, real estate
Reclusive, secretive, eccentric, Howard Hughes was once dubbed the “bashful billionaire,” but this shy man who liked to walk around in unkempt clothes and sneakers had one of the greatest minds in the history of American business.
After inheriting a $7.5 million fortune from his father at the age of 18, Hughes played his life out on a large canvas. He dropped out of college to take up flying, made movies and courted some of the most beautiful women in Hollywood.
The key to his enormous wealth was a patented oil-drilling bit that was virtually indestructible. Instead of selling it to oil men, he leased it, which kept control of the bit in his hands. The money from this tool helped him start Trans World Airlines, dabble in electronics and even buy seven Las Vegas casinos.
A genius at engineering, he designed a cantilever bra for Jane Russell that is still celebrated in the women’s undergarment industry. During the 1930s, Hughes set many world air-speed records, culminating in a 1938 ticker-tape parade in New York after he flew around the world in four days. One of his designs became the prototype for the infamous Japanese Zero during World War II.
Hughes, who survived several air crashes, was an eccentric, perhaps because of so many head injuries. During the filming of “Wings,” the World War I flying film, he delayed shooting for months because the clouds were not quite right.
In later years, Hughes cloistered himself in heavily guarded hotel suites. Developing a pathological fear of germs, he kept his surroundings antiseptically clean, even to the point of walking around in Kleenex boxes and having retainers wipe doorknobs with germicide after visitors left his hotel suite.
Among his legacies: Hughes Aircraft Co., Howard Hughes Properties and Howard Hughes Realty Inc. Hughes Aircraft was taken over by Boeing. General Motors Corp. bought Hughes Electronics in 1985, which at the time was worth $5.2 billion.
Frank Swertlow
