Nelson Bunker Hunt
| Nelson Bunker Hunt | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 22, 1926 El Dorado, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Died | October 21, 2014 (aged 88) Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation |
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| Political party | Republican |
| Parent(s) |
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| Awards |
Thoroughbred horse racing:
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Nelson Bunker Hunt (February 22, 1926 – October 21, 2014) was an American oil company executive. He was a former billionaire whose fortune collapsed after he and his brothers William Herbert and Lamar Hunt tried but failed to corner the world market in silver. He was also a thoroughbred horse breeder.
Hunt was born in El Dorado, Arkansas, but lived most of his life in Dallas, Texas. He was the son of Lyda Bunker and oil tycoon H. L. Hunt, who set up Placid Oil, once one of the biggest independent oil companies, and the brother of Lamar Hunt, founder of the American Football League and Kansas City Chiefs. In October 2014, Hunt died at the age of 88. He had cancer and dementia.
Bunker Hunt played a very significant role in the discovery and development of the oil fields in Libya, which were nationalized by Muammar Gaddafi in 1973.
Hunt owned the Dallas-based Titan Resources Corporation, which is still involved in the exploration of oil in North Africa. He was chairman of Hunt Exploration and Mining Company (HEMCO).
Beginning in the early 1970s, Hunt and his brothers William Herbert and Lamar began accumulating large amounts of silver. By 1979, they had nearly cornered the global market. In the last nine months of 1979, the brothers profited by an estimated $2 billion to $4 billion in silver speculation, with estimated silver holdings of 100 million troy ounces (3,100,000 kg).
Primarily because of the Hunt brothers' accumulation of the precious metal, prices of silver futures contracts and silver bullion rose from $11 an ounce in September 1979 to $50 an ounce in January 1980. Silver prices ultimately collapsed to below $11 an ounce two months later. The largest single day drop in the price of silver occurred on "Silver Thursday." In February 1985 the Hunt brothers were charged "with manipulating and attempting to manipulate the prices of silver futures contracts and silver bullion during 1979 and 1980" by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
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