Nelson Bunker Hunt: Difference between revisions
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Hunt's bankruptcy forced him to liquidate his thoroughbred operations. A 1988 dispersal sale of 580 horses at [[Keeneland]] brought in $46,911,800, at that time the highest amount in the history of thoroughbred auctions.<ref name="HORSE1" /> In 1999, he returned to thoroughbred ownership, spending a total of $2,075,000 on 51 juveniles and yearlings. At the time Hunt said, "At my age, I don't plan to do any breeding or buy a farm, I just want to have some fun and try to get lucky racing".<ref name="HORSE2" /> |
Hunt's bankruptcy forced him to liquidate his thoroughbred operations. A 1988 dispersal sale of 580 horses at [[Keeneland]] brought in $46,911,800, at that time the highest amount in the history of thoroughbred auctions.<ref name="HORSE1" /> In 1999, he returned to thoroughbred ownership, spending a total of $2,075,000 on 51 juveniles and yearlings. At the time Hunt said, "At my age, I don't plan to do any breeding or buy a farm, I just want to have some fun and try to get lucky racing".<ref name="HORSE2" /> |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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* [http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_04/laborde012704.html "H.L. Hunt's Boys and the Circle K Cowboys"] by Larry LaBorde |
* [http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_04/laborde012704.html "H.L. Hunt's Boys and the Circle K Cowboys"] by Larry LaBorde |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Nelson Bunker}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Nelson Bunker}} |
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Revision as of 11:45, 5 July 2008
Nelson Bunker Hunt | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 22, 1926 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Businessman: Oil & Mining |
Nelson Bunker Hunt (born February 22, 1926) is an American oil company executive. He is arguably most well known as a former billionaire whose fortune collapsed after the failure of an attempt by him and his brother William Herbert Hunt to corner the world market in silver.[1] He is also a successful thoroughbred horse breeder.[2]
Personal
Hunt was born in El Dorado, Arkansas, and currently lives in Dallas, Texas.[3] He is the son of Lyda Bunker and oil tycoon H. L. Hunt. He has been married to Caroline Lewis since 1951, and has four children, 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.[3]
Business career
Nelson Bunker Hunt played a very significant role in the discovery and development of the oil fields in Libya which would later be nationalized by Muammar al-Gaddafi.[4]
He is chairman of Hunt Exploration and Mining Company (HEMCO).[citation needed]
Silver Thursday
Beginning in the early 1970s, Hunt and his brother William Herbert Hunt began accumulating large amounts of silver. By 1979, they had nearly cornered the global market.[5] In the last nine months of 1979, the brothers earned an estimated $2 billion to $4 billion in silver speculation, with estimated silver holdings of 100 million oz.[6]
During the Hunt brothers' accumulation of the precious metal, prices of silver futures contracts and silver bullion during 1979 and 1980 silver prices 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.[1]
In 1989 in a settlement with the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Nelson Bunker Hunt was fined US$10 million and banned from trading in the commodity markets as a result of charges stemming from his attempt to corner the market in silver, leading to a commodity crash known as Silver Thursday.[1] This was in addition to a multimillion-dollar settlement to pay back taxes, fines and interest to the Internal Revenue Service for the same period.[1]
Hunt filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy Code in September 1988, largely due to lawsuits incurred as a result of his silver speculation.[1]
Politics
He has been extremely active in conservative political causes[7] and is a current member of the Council of the John Birch Society.[3]
During the mid 1980s, Bunker Hunt contributed almost half a million US dollars to the 'The National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty' (NEPL),[8] a conservative fund raising organization later heavily implicated in the Iran Contra Affair.[9] Hunt is past Chairman of the Board of the Bible Society of Texas and the past Chairman of, and significant contributor to, Campus Crusade for Christ International's "Here's Life" Campaign (1976-80),[3][10] as well as providing a $3.5 million loan guarantee for the 1979 Campus Crusade film "Jesus".[11]
Hunt has also been associated with the International Association for the Advancement of Ethnology and Eugenics and has donated millions to Christian World Liberation Front, Moral Majority, Christian Broadcasters Network, and Strategies to Eliminate Poverty (STEP). [citation needed]
Thoroughbred horse racing
The United States National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) has awarded Hunt the title of "legendary owner-breeder".[12]
In 1955, Hunt bought his first thoroughbreds and by the 1970s his breeding program had became one of the world's largest and most productive. Winner of the U.S. Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder in 1976, 1985, and 1987, he owned the 8,000 acre Bluegrass Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, and raced thoroughbreds in Europe and North America. Among his horses, Hunt bred or raced Vaguely Noble, Dahlia, Empery, Youth, Exceller, Trillion, Glorious Song, Dahar and Estrapade.[2]
In 1973 and 1974, Hunt was the British flat racing Champion Owner and in 1976 won England's most prestigious race, the Epsom Derby.[2]
Hunt's bankruptcy forced him to liquidate his thoroughbred operations. A 1988 dispersal sale of 580 horses at Keeneland brought in $46,911,800, at that time the highest amount in the history of thoroughbred auctions.[2] In 1999, he returned to thoroughbred ownership, spending a total of $2,075,000 on 51 juveniles and yearlings. At the time Hunt said, "At my age, I don't plan to do any breeding or buy a farm, I just want to have some fun and try to get lucky racing".[12]
External links
- "H.L. Hunt's Boys and the Circle K Cowboys" by Larry LaBorde
References
- ^ a b c d e Eichenwald, Kurt (1989-12-21). "2 Hunts Fined And Banned From Trades". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
- ^ a b c d Bowen, Edward L. (2004). Legacies of the Turf: A Century of Great Thoroughbred Breeders. Lexington, KY, United States: Eclipse Press. pp. pp249-262. ISBN 158150117X.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ a b c d "Nelson Bunker Hunt". The John Birch Society, Inc. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
- ^ Lauterpacht, Elihu; Greenwood, C. J. (1984), International Law Reports, vol. 66, Cambridge University Press, p. 340, ISBN 0521464110
- ^ Gwynne, S. C. (September 2001). "Bunker HUNT". Texas Monthly. 29 (9). Austin, Texas, United States: Emmis Communications Corporation: p78.
{{cite journal}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ "Bunker Hunt's Comstock Lode". Time Magazine. 115 (2). Time Inc. 1980-01-14.
- ^ Tuccille, Jerome (2004), Kingdom: The Story of the Hunt Family of Texas, Beard Books, p. 311, ISBN 1587982269
- ^ Walsh, Lawrence E. (1993-08-04), Final report of the independent counsel for Iran/Contra matters, vol. I: Investigations and Prosecutions, retrieved 2008-07-05
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Berke, Richard L. (1987-04-09), "Investigators say group raised $2 Million for Contra Arms Aid", New York Times, retrieved 2008-07-05
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Diamond, Sara (1989). Spiritual Warfare: The Politics of the Christian Right. Boston, USA: South End Press. pp. p53. ISBN 0896083616.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ Van Biema, David (2003-06-30). "The Life of Jesus in 830 Languages". Time Magazine. 161 (26). Time Inc.: p42.
{{cite journal}}:|pages=has extra text (help); Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b "Nelson Bunker Hunt". National Thoroughbred Racing Association. 2006-05-30. Retrieved 2008-04-13.