H. L. Hunt

H. L. Hunt
Haroldson Lafayette Hunt, Jr.
Born	Haroldson Lafayette Hunt, Jr. (1889-02-17)February 17, 1889 Ramsey, Illinois
Died	November 29, 1974(1974-11-29) (aged 85) Dallas, Texas
Nationality	American
Other names	H. L. Hunt
Occupation	Oil business
Net worth	USD $1 billion at the time of his death (approximately 1/1474th of US GNP)
Spouse(s)	Lyda Bunker Frania Tye Ruth Ray
Children	fifteen

Haroldson Lafayette "H. L." Hunt, Jr. (February 17, 1889 – November 29, 1974), known throughout his life as H. L. Hunt, was a Texas oil tycoon and conservative Republican political activist. By trading poker winnings for oil rights, he ultimately secured title to much of the East Texas Oil Field, one of the world's largest oil deposits. From it and his other acquisitions, he accrued a fortune that was among the world's largest; at the time of his death, he was reputed to have the highest net worth of any individual in the world. His personal life, which featured many children by three wives, was among the chief inspirations for the television series Dallas, whose most famous character J.R. Ewing was largely based on popular perceptions of Hunt.

Hunt was born near Ramsey, in Carson Township, Fayette County, Illinois, the youngest of eight children. He was named after his father, Haroldson Lafayette Hunt, who was a prosperous farmer-entrepreneur; his mother was Ella Rose (Myers) Hunt.

Hunt was educated at home. As a teenager, Hunt traveled to various places before settling in Arkansas, where he was running a cotton plantation by 1912. He had a reputation as a math prodigy and was a gambler. It was said that after his cotton plantation was flooded, he turned his last $100 into more than $100,000, gambling in New Orleans. With his winnings, he purchased oil properties in the neighborhood of El Dorado, Arkansas. He was generous to his employees, who in turn were loyal to him, informing him of rumors of a massive oil field to the south, in East Texas — the East Texas Oil Field. In negotiations over cheese and crackers, at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas, with the wild-catter who discovered the field--"Dad" Joiner—Hunt secured title to what was then the largest known oil deposit in the world, having agreed to pay only $1,000,000, and protect Mr. Joiner from liability for his many fraudulent transactions surrounding the property. In 1957 Fortune estimated that Hunt had a fortune of between U.S. $400 million and $700 million ($4.5 billion in 2011, adjusted for inflation), and was one of the eight richest people in the United States. J. Paul Getty, who was considered at the time to be the richest private citizen in the world, said of Hunt: "In terms of extraordinary, independent wealth, there is only one man: H.L. Hunt."