The story of a billionaire who died afraid of germs (7 photos)

Oh, this Howard Hughes is the personification of the American dream of the rich. Bright, emotional, charming, always full of ideas. He was such an interesting person that one of the most famous films with DiCaprio, “The Aviator,” was even made about him.





On September 24, 1905, Howard Hughes Jr. (also called Sonny) was born in Humble. Howard's father was the active and hot-tempered Bo Hughes, who understood the main problem of oil producers - they were losing enormous money on poor drilling equipment.

It took him and engineer Walter Sharp several months of testing to create and receive a patent for the drill, which became a hit with oil workers. This invention brought the Hughes a lot of money. In 1909, Bo founded the Sharp-Hughes Tool Company.



Allen with his son

Howard's mother Allen was an unstable lady: she was suffocated by overprotection, she was overly sensitive, hysterical and prone to hypochondria. It was easier to say what she was not afraid of: cats, cockroaches, beetles, mosquitoes, flies... Polio in those years was common among children and Allen constantly tormented doctors so that they would conduct tests on Howard. It’s not surprising that she managed to put her obsessive fears into her son’s head. When Allen died, Howard began to constantly visit doctors, regularly “finding” various ailments. And at the end of my own life, hypochondria turned into some kind of madness.





Sonny was a nervous and shy young man by nature. But over the years, he learned to overcome his weaknesses and demonstrate masculine traits.

Since childhood, he was distinguished by interesting ideas and technical abilities. At the same time, raised by his mother, he did not drink coffee or alcohol, and never smoked. Due to hearing loss, he always spoke sonorously and his voice sounded authoritative.

By the age of 19, he had buried both his parents and became the heir to a huge fortune that had to be increased. Sonny ran the Hughes Tool Company, which produced drills, which brought him significant profits. To become independent, he practically forcibly bought back all the shares that, after Bo’s death, were delivered to other family members. All Howard had to do was play golf with the judge a couple of times and everything was decided.

Howard Hughes eventually became a businessman with sole control of his enterprise and fortune. Almost everything was available to him.

Sonny bought the good attitude of politicians, officials, judges, and won a variety of state tenders.

Hollywood and shame



Finding himself in the equally corrupt world of Hollywood gave him access to a lot. On July 4, 1925, Howard married Elle Rice, whom he beat and humiliated, and publicly. Four years of humiliation and the couple divorced. Hughes' second wife was Jean Peters, to whom he became engaged in 1957.

Cinema attracted Hughes: he was passionately interested in technology, dismantling the camera down to the bolt and reassembling it, and in general all the details, right down to the scenery. Soon he became a serious producer and even occupied the director's chair, interfering in the filming process.

1953 and 1954 are shameful pages in the life of Howard Hughes.

1953 May 19. A nuclear test was conducted in Nevada, but for some reason the Commission decided not to evacuate the city 250 km from the test site. Radioactive dust got there. And at the beginning of 1954, Hughes sent the group there to film the film “The Conqueror” (about Genghis Khan), which, by the way, failed. But this was nothing compared to the fact that approximately half of the people in the group fell ill with radiation sickness and soon they all died of cancer. And to Hollywood, for the scenes in the pavilions, they sent 60 tons of contaminated sand to simulate the Gobi Desert.

Promiscuous



Ginger Rogers and Hughes at lunch

He changed partners more often than gloves. Almost all Hollywood stars of that time visited Hughes's bed. Actress Rita Hayworth, by the way, became pregnant from him, but Sonny literally hated children and forced her to have an abortion. Actress Terry Moore decided to keep her child in a similar situation, but died in childbirth.

It’s not surprising that the actresses were forced to respond to the producer’s “courtship.” It didn’t cost him anything to ruin the girls’ careers. It’s surprising, by the way, given his hypochondria, to lead such a chaotic lifestyle.

Almost the only actress who never succumbed to pressure from Hughes was Ava Gardner. The injured Howard could not stand Frank Sinatra, believing that it was he who “stole” Gardner from him and tried to destroy his career.

Fear

In 1970, already 6 years before his own death, Howard turned into a skeleton. He consumed 2,000 calories per day, but with a height of 192 cm, his weight was 47 kg. Even just standing, he swayed, and he was carried up the stairs on a stretcher.

What was the matter? Later, after Howard’s death, the author of the millionaire’s biography sought advice from one of the best diagnosticians in Los Angeles, Joseph Choi. He studied history and, based on a combination of factors, clearly said that it was AIDS.

Well, yes, fevers, rapid weight loss, constantly elevated temperature, low hemoglobin. All this indicates the presence of HIV in the body. Sonny himself, panicked by the unknown that was eating him up from the inside, repeatedly refused to donate blood for analysis.



Shortly before death

Childhood fears of germs have returned with a vengeance. Howard tried to save himself from the inevitable with a tenacity worthy of better use. A paranoid idea was born in his head that constantly wiping everything with handkerchiefs and towels would help him escape from radiation and germs. After going to the toilet, Hughes would sit near the sink and would spend hours rubbing his hands until they bled and rubbing them with alcohol. It’s a paradox, but despite all this, he diligently avoided any contact with doctors. He ate mostly milk, pears, chocolate bars and peanuts. But his entourage was unlucky with another of Howard’s obsessions: the millionaire ordered all his urine to be collected in jars and stored in a special room.



Funeral

For a second, in these last years, Howard owned a fifth of Las Vegas. But fate rather cruelly reminded him of his own words: “money can’t buy happiness.”

On April 5, 1976, Howard Hughes died.

Already in 1980, Sonny's businesses, Hughes Aircraft and Hughes Helicopters, were sold for $5 billion.