Nelson Bunker Hunt | |
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| Born | (1926-02-22)February 22, 1926 El Dorado, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Died | October 21, 2014(2014-10-21) (aged 88) |
| Nationality | American |
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| Political party | Republican |
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| Awards | Thoroughbred horse racing:
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Nelson Bunker Hunt (February 22, 1926 – October 21, 2014) was an Americanoil company executive. He was a billionaire whose fortune collapsed after he and his brothersWilliam Herbert andLamar[1] tried tocorner the world market insilver but were prevented by government intervention.[2] He was also a thoroughbred horse breeder[3] and a major sponsor of theJohn Birch Society.
Hunt was born inEl Dorado, Arkansas, but lived most of his life inDallas,Texas.[4] He was the son of Lyda Bunker andoiltycoonH. L. Hunt, who set upPlacid Oil, once one of the biggest independent oil companies,[5] He had six siblings:Margaret Hunt Hill (1915–2007), H. L. Hunt III (1917–2005),Caroline Rose Hunt (1923–2018), Lyda Bunker Hunt (born and died in 1925),William Herbert Hunt (1929–2024), andLamar Hunt (1932–2006). He was married to Caroline Lewis Hunt ofRuston, Louisiana for 63 years until his death, and they had four children together. In October 2014, Hunt died at the age of 88. He had cancer and dementia.[1]
Hunt played a significant role in the discovery and development of the oil fields inLibya, the more established oil enterprises' stake of which were nationalized byMuammar Gaddafi in 1973.[6] This nationalization later resulted in the House of Lords decision inBP Exploration Co (Libya) v Hunt (No 2) [1983] 2 AC 352.
Hunt owned theDallas-based Titan Resources Corporation, which is still involved in the exploration of oil in North Africa.[7] He was chairman of Hunt Exploration and Mining Company (HEMCO).[citation needed]
Beginning in the early 1970s, Hunt and his brothers William Herbert and Lamar began accumulating large amounts of silver on Comex through Brodsky and Associates. By 1979, they had nearly cornered the global market.[8] In the last nine months of 1979, the brothers profited by an estimated US$2–4 billion in silverspeculation, with estimated silver holdings of 100 million troy ounces (3,100 t).[9]
Primarily because of the Hunt brothers' accumulation of theprecious metal, prices of silverfutures 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.[10] The largest single-day drop in the price of silver occurred on "Silver Thursday".[2] 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 theUnited StatesCommodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).[2]
In September 1988 the Hunt brothers filed for bankruptcy underChapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy Code largely due to lawsuits incurred as a result of their silver speculation.[2]
In 1989, in a settlement with the CFTC, Nelson Bunker Hunt was fined $10 million and banned from trading in the commodity markets as a result of civil charges of conspiring to manipulate the silver market.[2] This fine was in addition to a multimillion-dollar settlement to pay back taxes, fines and interest to theInternal Revenue Service for the same period. His brother William Herbert Hunt made a similar settlement.[2]
Nelson Bunker Hunt was active in conservative political causes[11] and was a member of the council of theJohn Birch Society.[4] Among the candidates he supported financially were the fervent segregationists Sen.Strom Thurmond andGeorge Wallace.[12] Hunt played a key role in the1968 presidential campaign in rejecting Wallace's first vice presidential choice, former Kentucky governorHappy Chandler, whom Hunt considered too moderate, and making possible the selection ofCurtis LeMay. When LeMay balked at losing his salaried job if he joined the Wallace campaign, Hunt created a secret, $1 million trust fund to compensate LeMay for loss of income.[13]
Hunt mentoredZahid Bashir, former spokesman and press secretary to the Pakistani Prime Minister, in oil trading. He was one of the main sponsors of the conservative organizationWestern Goals Foundation, founded in 1979 by GeneralJohn K. Singlaub, journalistJohn Rees, and Democratic Congressman from GeorgiaLarry McDonald. During the mid-1980s, he contributed almost half a million U.S. dollars toThe National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty (NEPL),[14][15] a conservative fundraising organization later heavily implicated in theIran–Contra affair.[16] Hunt was past chairman of the board of the Bible Society of Texas and the past chairman of, and significant contributor toCampus Crusade for Christ International's "Here's Life" Campaign (1976–1980),[17][18] as well as providing a $3.5 million loan guarantee for the 1979 Campus Crusade filmJesus.[19]
In 1955, Hunt bought his first thoroughbreds and by the 1970s his breeding program had become 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 (3,200 ha) Bluegrass Farm inLexington, Kentucky, and raced thoroughbreds inEurope andNorth America. Among his horses, Hunt bred or racedVaguely Noble,Dahlia,Empery,Youth,Exceller,Trillion,Glorious Song,Dahar andEstrapade.[3]
In 1973 and 1974, Hunt was theBritish flat racing Champion Owner and in 1976 wonThe Derby with Empery.[3]
The United StatesNational Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) awarded Hunt the title of "legendary owner-breeder".[20] Overall, Hunt bred 158 stakes winners and either bred or owned 25 champions.[21]
Hunt's bankruptcy forced him to liquidate his thoroughbred operations. A 1988 dispersal sale of 580 horses atKeeneland Sales brought in $46,911,800, at that time the highest amount in the history of thoroughbred auctions.[3] In 1999, he returned to thoroughbred ownership, spending a total of $2,075,000 on 51 juveniles and yearlings. At the time he 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."[20]
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