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Tag: heiress

  • Paris Hilton Tells Us Why She Doesn’t Want To Date Celebrities Anymore

    Paris Hilton’s boyfriend list seems to be a who’s who of actors, athletes and businessmen. But it seems the heiress is starting to mellow down.

    Ever since Hilton burst onto the scene in The Simple Life, she has been a favorite fodder of the tabloids and the paparazzi. Her every move was reported and people were treated to every detail of the socialite’s relationships with musicians Nick Carter and Benji Madden, as well as with shipping heirs Paris Latsis and Stavros Niarchos.

    But the party-loving Paris seemed to have changed during her two year relationship with model River Viiperi, which ended last year.

    Or at least, her priorities have changed.

    The popular DJ has been rumored to have since moved on to much younger model Jordan Barrett. But it’s a report that she just laughed off, claiming that “he’s one of my closest friends.”

    As a matter of fact, the TV personality seems to be enjoying her single blessedness for once and is not in a hurry to be in another relationship so soon.

    “I’ve never been single in my life before, but now I am and I love it. I feel so independent and free,” Hilton explained.

    The once controversial star also added that since she’s traveling so much for work “it just makes it much easier if I can travel and not have to worry about someone in LA embarrassing me or doing something bad.”

    But if Paris ever decides to dip her toe in the dating pool once more, she will stay away from celebrities. In an interview with Hello magazine, the 34-year-old socialite says that dating celebrities is “not my thing anymore because you can’t trust them.”

    “I’d rather be with a normal, nice guy – someone with a big heart who’s loyal and smart, who makes me laugh and who is cute,” she said.

  • Paige Laurie Dubbert, Wal-Mart Heiress, Divorcing

    Paige Laurie Dubbert, Wal-Mart Heiress, Divorcing

    Wal-Mart heiress Paige Laurie Dubbert has filed for divorce from her husband of nearly six years, Patrick Bode Dubbert. Laurie, who plans to have her name restored to Elizabeth Paige Laurie, has cited irreconcilable differences.

    Paige Laurie is the daughter of Nancy Walton Laurie, who is the youngest daughter of Bud Walton, the brother and business partner of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. Upon Bud’s death, Nancy Laurie and her sister Ann Walton Kroenke inherited roughly $6 billion in Wal-Mart money.

    Paige Laurie made headlines a decade ago after her parents used her name on the then new University of Missouri in Columbia basketball facility. The family had contributed $25 million to the construction of the arena to secure naming rights, and called it Paige Sports Arena after their sports holding company, Paige Sports Entertainment. Paige Laurie didn’t attend the university, and scandal erupted after her former roommate at the University of Southern California revealed that the heiress had paid her $20,000 over four years to do her homework. The Lauries then gave up naming rights to the basketball complex, which is now called Mizzou Arena, and Paige voluntarily handed over her diploma to USC.

    Regarding her divorce filing, a civil lawsuit accuses Patrick Dubbert of embezzling thousands of dollars from a retail operation Laurie had been backrolling in Malibu. Dubbert had allegedly installed himself as manager, hired a friend as co-manager, and paid himself and said friend $70K per month as “general contractors,” on top of the $250K-per-year base salary Dubbert was already making.

    In order to protect her fortune, Laurie had Dubbert sign a prenup, and is likely not too fazed by having to pay five years of spousal support to her husband. Perhaps she can throw in some Wal-Mart gift cards as well.

    Image via YouTube

  • Gloria Vanderbilt: Anderson Cooper Won’t Get Inheritance From Family Fortune

    Journalist Anderson Cooper revealed that he won’t be receiving an inheritance from his mother, American socialite Gloria Vanderbilt. Cooper comes from a family who made millions in shipping and railroad structures.

    According to the CNN news anchor, his mother made it clear that there is no inheritance. He even states that he doesn’t believe in it, calling it a curse and an “initiative sucker.”

    He went on to question if those who inherited a lot of money accomplished things on their own. Personally, he wonders if he would have been motivated if he knew a “pot of gold” was waiting for him in the future.

    Cooper calls his mother the coolest person he knows, remaining grateful that she gave him good work ethics. He says that he would love to follow her footsteps if ever he becomes a father.

    Gloria Vanderbilt became an heiress when her father died when she was 18 months old. She was called the “poor little rich girl” because she was involved in a notorious custody trial between her mother Gloria Morgan and her father’s sister, Gertrude Whitney Vanderbilt

    Vanderbilt’s aunt wanted custody of her because she felt Morgan was an unfit mother and led a “raucous lifestyle.” The aunt won the trial and little Vanderbilt grew up with her. As an adult, she popularized the blue jean when she ventured into business.

    Today, Vanderbilt is worth over $200 million, and Cooper says his mother earned most of her money on her own. Cooper is also self-made, earning $11 million a year as one of CNN’s main anchors.

    He also said that he‘d raise his children with a sense of responsibility, encouraging them to start working early. He said he might leave some money if they are responsible, but he remains unsure.

    Still, he would like to prioritize working instead of relying on a distant relative who has no connection to him.

    The Vanderbilt Dynasty


    Image via YouTube

  • Rachel ‘Bunny’ Mellon, Secluded Heiress, Dies at 103

    Rachel ‘Bunny’ Mellon, a secluded heiress, patron of the arts, and a figure in John Edward’s presidential campaign scandal died today in Upperville, VA at 103. Her fortune came from her grandfather’s invention of Listerine, her father’s presidency in the Gillette Safety Razor Company, and her marriage to philanthropist Paul Mellon. She told the New York Times in 1969, she valued privacy above all else: “Nothing should be noticed.”

    Avoiding notice for Mellon could only be maintained for so long. She became entwined in the John Edwards presidential campaign scandal. According to Bloomberg News, Mellon wrote to Andrew Young “I was sitting alone in a grim mood — furious that the press attacked Senator Edwards on the price of a haircut.” She then contributed $725,000 to Edwards as a personal gift or “a way to help our friend without government restrictions.” Edwards was indicted in 2012 for violating campaign finance laws by using the money to hide his pregnant mistress Rielle Hunter.

    Her grandson, Lloyd told the the Associated Press that “she was trying to help (Edwards) for the right reasons, believed in him, and I think frankly he just took advantage of a lot of opportunities that she gave him.”

    Vanity Fair writer James Reginato took a visit to the 4,000-acre Oak Springs Estate back in 2010. He described driving “down a good mile of winding road, lined with stone and wood fences, a rolling landscape unfolds with meticulously pruned oaks, willows, and sycamores. After passing an imposing red-brick Georgian-style mansion, we continue past a monumental bronze statue of Sea Hero, Mellon’s 1993 Kentucky Derby winner, until we reach a low-lying group of connected whitewashed stone cottages—a house which resembles a charming 18th-century French hamlet.”

    Mellon and her husband had been long time collectors of artwork and paintings. Her husband wrote “we began going to public galleries and those of dealers in New York and abroad – out of interest, out of curiosity – for pleasure, relaxation, education.” The elaborate nature and privacy that the Upperville Oak Springs hopefully gave just the right amount of pleasure and relaxation before her death.

    Image via National Gallery of Art

  • Huguette Clark Art Collection to be Auctioned

    An incredibly impressive art collection, owned by the mysterious late Huguette Clark, is set to be auctioned this summer after a tour to show the art, much of which hasn’t been seen in public for almost a century, according to NBC.

    Tour dates include London with viewing now through Feb. 4. Next is Hong Kong on April 4-9. Then in Tokyo, April 10-12, and finally in New York. Once they reach New York, some of the peices will be available view later in April, but the exact dates are not yet set in stone.

    Among the (almost) priceless pieces are a beautiful Monet from his “Water Lilies” series. It was purchased by Clark in 1930 in New York and has an estimated value of $25 million to $35 million by itself. There is also a Renoir trio which includes “Girls Playing Battledore and Shuttlecock,” “Chrysanthemums,” and “Woman with Umbrella”, which together are expected to bring $16.5 million to $25.5 million.

    Among the vast collection of famous paintings are some lovely works by Huguette Clark, herself, who was quite a talented artist. These will not be on the auction block, but will go to the new Bellosguardo Foundation for the arts and will be displayed at her estate in Santa Barbara, California. The foundation also was given her $85 million dollar oceanfront property in her will.

    Paintings aren’t the only things that will be sold at auction. There will also be rare musical instruments, such as a Stradivarius violin, called “the Kreutzer” from 1731, as well as rare books.

    These books will include wonderful pieces, like her first edition of Baudelaire’s “Les fleurs du mal,” and a Book of Hours from the 16th century with pages decorated with liquid gold. There will also be a rare first edition of Walt Whitman’s classic, “Leaves of Grass”.

    The layers of priceless treasure, shut away in Huguette Clark’s numerous estates for almost a century, continue to come to light and continue to add a little more to the fascinating story of the reclusive heiress each time they are revealed.

    Image via Wikipedia

  • Tentative Agreement Over Heiress Clark’s Will

    Recently deceased Montana copper heiress Huguette Clark, whose curious life and obsession with dolls made headlines, has a will that has been in dispute in a New York courtroom. It’s been reported by an anonymous party close to the case that a tentative deal would distribute more than $30 million of her $300 million estate to her distant relatives.

    The court battle had pit nearly two dozen of Clark’s half-siblings’ descendants against a goddaughter, the hospital where she’d spent her last 20 years, doctors, a nurse, her lawyer, her accountant and others. An April 2005 version of Clark’s will cut out the descendants altogether, but a rehash from 6 weeks later left them almost everything. The latest tentative agreement would leave the relatives roughly $34.5 million after taxes. Clark’s chief nurse, Hadassah Peri, would have to hand over $5 million, along with a $1.5 million doll collection, and Clark’s lawyer Wallace Bock would get nothing.

    Jury selection concerning the validity of the April, 2005 will began Thursday. In that version, Clark stated, “the persons and institution named herein as beneficiaries of my estate are the true objects of my bounty,” and noted that she’d had only “minimal contacts” with her true relatives over the years. Clark owned properties from Fifth Avenue in NYC to coastal California, but chose to live in the Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan at $400,000 a year in the twilight of her life, before passing away at 104 in 2011. Clark was first admitted to the hospital in 1991, emaciated and stricken with advanced skin cancer.

    Some of Clark’s fortune would also go to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, at $10 million, and Clark’s mansion in California would become a foundation.

    Over the years, Clark had dispensed multiple Manhattan apartments, a $1.2 Stradivarius violin, hundreds of thousands of dollars in Christmas presents, a painting by Manet, etc. to her hospital caretakers – and her lawyer and accountant stood to receive sizable fees as executors of the challenged will, on top of the hundreds or thousands of dollars they’d already received in gifts.

    Clark’s relatives said the hospital, the doctors and nurses, and the lawyer and accountant had swindled the heiress. Their retort was that Clark was just a generous lady. New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office ended up getting involved in the dispute to protect charities’ interests. More money, more problems.

    Image courtesy of Jungle Red Writers.

  • Tamara Ecclestone, Formula 1 Princess, Marries In $18 M Bash

    Tamara Ecclestone, a British socialite and heiress to her father Bernie’s fortune, reportedly spent $18 million on a lavish wedding on Tuesday in the French Riviera.

    The nuptials were spared no expense as Ecclestone and stockbroker Jay Rutland partied with 150 guests, many of whom were celebrities. Ecclestone wore a couture Vera Wang gown and danced to a live Elton John performance, which some reports say must have set her back around $1 million. They also rented out every single room in the extravagant Grand Hotel Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, a five-star hotel. At least one guest didn’t find the party to measure up to the hotel’s high standards, however, and dished some dirt on the fete:

    “It felt like a free-for-all. It was all very informal and relaxed, and guests were left to go up and get their own drinks. It was almost too informal. There were around 150 guests in total and around 40 to 50 were Jay’s friends. It was very chavvy. During the three-day event, some of them were mooning — and one was seen throwing up after over-indulging. A lot of Tamara’s friends thought there might be eligible bachelors they could meet, but many couldn’t wait to leave the party,” said the source.

    But despite the luxury, Rutland says he didn’t marry his bride for her fortune.

    “I admire her enormously. She does not show her wealth . . . Money is not important. It’s not what attracted me to her,” he said. “Tamara is the most caring and sensitive person I know by a mile. She is incredibly faithful and loyal, and is an incredible sister, daughter and friend.”

    Despite his protests that money doesn’t matter, many tabloids are grabbing onto the fact that Rutland was banned for insider trading last year. After meeting Ecclestone in January, he proposed within a month.

    The celebration’s bill is reportedly being footed by Ecclestone’s father, but there’s been no comment from him on the matter, or on how extreme the party was. Invited guests included Paris Hilton, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Nicola Roberts, Jason Statham, Princess Beatrice, Sarah Ferguson, Marck Ronson, Lionel Richie, and Sean Connery.

    Rather than leave the beach party in a boring limo, the happy couple took off on a yacht and continued their celebration.