Nelson Bunker Hunt, oil fortune heir whose bid to corner the silver market led to ruin, dies
DALLAS (AP) -- Nelson Bunker
Hunt, a Texas oilman who once tried to corner the silver market with one
of his brothers only to see the move end in financial disaster, has
died. He was 88.
Hunt died
Tuesday at a Dallas assisted-living center after a long battle with
Alzheimer's disease, his brother, W. Herbert Hunt, said.
Hunt
was among the world's wealthiest men. His father was legendary Texas
oilman H.L. Hunt, who left behind a multibillion-dollar fortune and
Placid Oil Co., once one of the biggest independent oil companies.
Nelson
Bunker Hunt built on his father's oil and gas holdings, finding a rich
Libyan oil field only to have it nationalized later by Moammar Gadhafi.
He owned millions of acres of farm and ranch land in Australia, race
horses and an ancient coin collection.
But
a huge, soured bet on the silver market by Hunt and his brother,
Herbert, led to legal problems and bankruptcy. The holdings grew to
nearly $4.5 billion by January 1980, and he and Herbert Hunt lost more
than $1 billion in March 1980 when the price of silver collapsed.
The
brothers agreed to lifetime bans from trading in commodities futures
and a $10 million penalty with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission,
which alleged that they manipulated the price of silver.
Sliding prices for oil, land and commodities further dented their fortunes.
Nelson
Bunker Hunt filed for bankruptcy protection in 1988, and much of his
remaining fortune was liquidated to pay creditors and the IRS.
A
funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday at Park Cities Presbyterian
Church in Dallas, to be followed by a private graveside service, Hunt's
brother said.