Nelson Bunker Hunt, dead at 88

[BackInTex]

Yeah, no RIP. Undeserving.

Nelson Bunker Hunt, Texas Tycoon, Dies at 88

I've quoted all the nice things to say about the man.

[silverscreenselect]

He was an evangelical Christian close to the Rev. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and supported right-wing politicians and causes, including the John Birch Society. He loathed the federal government, warned of international communist conspiracies, spouted anti-Semitic sentiments, did business with the Saudi royal family and bankrolled expeditions to salvage the Titanic and to find Noah’s Ark.

After being battered by the silver debacle and further losses in oil and real estate, Mr. Hunt and his brothers took out loans to pay debts, then sold properties to repay the loans and placed many family holdings into bankruptcy... In one lawsuit, a federal jury in Manhattan ruled in 1988 that the Hunts had conspired with others in a racketeering enterprise to monopolize the silver market and ordered them to pay $130 million in damages to a Peruvian commodities concern. Bunker and Herbert were found most culpable, while Lamar, the owner of the Kansas City Chiefs football team, was assigned a lesser role.

As creditors closed in, the Hunts hemorrhaged money and defaulted on $1.5 billion in loans. They agreed to pay $90 million in back taxes over 15 years and $10 million each in fines levied by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which barred them from trading. In 1989, Bunker emerged from bankruptcy with assets of $5 million to $10 million and debts that stretched to the Pecos horizon.

But through the clever use of courts and trusts to protect assets, and of counterclaims and settlements to gain time and ease the pain, the Hunts for years carried on much as usual: Bunker exploring for oil abroad, attending the races and overseeing smaller thoroughbred stables; Herbert running real estate operations; and Lamar focusing on his sports enterprises.

Sounds like a typical Republican to me.

[littlebeast13]

“A billion dollars ain’t what it used to be,” he said in 1980 after silver stakes he amassed with two brothers, Herbert and Lamar, fell to $10.80 from $50.35 an ounce. In barely two months, their holdings and contracts for purchases — corralling a third to half the world’s deliverable silver — had plunged from a $7 billion value in January to a $1.7 billion loss in March.

With the Hunts unable to cover enormous margin calls, the debacle endangered financial markets and brokerage houses, forcing federal regulators and the nation’s banks to step in with a $1 billion line of credit, a bailout that saved the system from a stampede and the Hunts from an immediate meltdown.

You just can't trust Clarence Beeks...

lb13

[Bob Juch]

He was an evangelical Christian close to the Rev. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and supported right-wing politicians and causes, including the John Birch Society. He loathed the federal government, warned of international communist conspiracies, spouted anti-Semitic sentiments, did business with the Saudi royal family and bankrolled expeditions to salvage the Titanic and to find Noah’s Ark.

After being battered by the silver debacle and further losses in oil and real estate, Mr. Hunt and his brothers took out loans to pay debts, then sold properties to repay the loans and placed many family holdings into bankruptcy... In one lawsuit, a federal jury in Manhattan ruled in 1988 that the Hunts had conspired with others in a racketeering enterprise to monopolize the silver market and ordered them to pay $130 million in damages to a Peruvian commodities concern. Bunker and Herbert were found most culpable, while Lamar, the owner of the Kansas City Chiefs football team, was assigned a lesser role.

As creditors closed in, the Hunts hemorrhaged money and defaulted on $1.5 billion in loans. They agreed to pay $90 million in back taxes over 15 years and $10 million each in fines levied by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which barred them from trading. In 1989, Bunker emerged from bankruptcy with assets of $5 million to $10 million and debts that stretched to the Pecos horizon.

But through the clever use of courts and trusts to protect assets, and of counterclaims and settlements to gain time and ease the pain, the Hunts for years carried on much as usual: Bunker exploring for oil abroad, attending the races and overseeing smaller thoroughbred stables; Herbert running real estate operations; and Lamar focusing on his sports enterprises.

Sounds like a typical Republican to me.

No, sounds like a 1%er Republican to me; the typical Republican is someone who's deluded to believe the 1% have his best interests at heart.

[BackInTex]

Sounds like a typical Republican to me.

Yep, we have wolves in our midst. Both parties do. Typically Republicans will call them out and send them home. A la Newt Gingrich.

Typically Democrats simply re-elect them.

[themanintheseersuckersuit]

The Big Rich is a fascinating book, The Hunt families (there were several) is one of the subjects. They were seriously weird.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Big-Rich-Grea ... 0143116827

In an interesting analogy to the current fracking boom, several of the fortunes came when somebody decided to look for oil below previous finds.

[themanintheseersuckersuit]

Sounds like a typical Republican to me.

Yeah, dealing with Texas Democrats like Lyndon Johnson can make you a little paranoid.

[silverscreenselect]

Sounds like a typical Republican to me.

Yep, we have wolves in our midst. Both parties do. Typically Republicans will call them out and send them home. A la Newt Gingrich.

Followed by making them rich on the Fox News/right wing radio talk show circuit.

[tlynn78]

He was an evangelical Christian close to the Rev. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and supported right-wing politicians and causes, including the John Birch Society. He loathed the federal government, warned of international communist conspiracies, spouted anti-Semitic sentiments, did business with the Saudi royal family and bankrolled expeditions to salvage the Titanic and to find Noah’s Ark.

After being battered by the silver debacle and further losses in oil and real estate, Mr. Hunt and his brothers took out loans to pay debts, then sold properties to repay the loans and placed many family holdings into bankruptcy... In one lawsuit, a federal jury in Manhattan ruled in 1988 that the Hunts had conspired with others in a racketeering enterprise to monopolize the silver market and ordered them to pay $130 million in damages to a Peruvian commodities concern. Bunker and Herbert were found most culpable, while Lamar, the owner of the Kansas City Chiefs football team, was assigned a lesser role.

As creditors closed in, the Hunts hemorrhaged money and defaulted on $1.5 billion in loans. They agreed to pay $90 million in back taxes over 15 years and $10 million each in fines levied by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which barred them from trading. In 1989, Bunker emerged from bankruptcy with assets of $5 million to $10 million and debts that stretched to the Pecos horizon.

But through the clever use of courts and trusts to protect assets, and of counterclaims and settlements to gain time and ease the pain, the Hunts for years carried on much as usual: Bunker exploring for oil abroad, attending the races and overseeing smaller thoroughbred stables; Herbert running real estate operations; and Lamar focusing on his sports enterprises.

Sounds like a typical Republican to me.

You are a completely ignorant ass. Luckily, not all Democrats think like you.

[themanintheseersuckersuit]

The Hunts found Oil in the Middle of the Libyan desert, then Gadhafi took over and kicked them out, that's the kind of thing that will make you bitter.