Howard R. Hughes, Sr.
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Howard R. Hughes, Sr. (September 9, 1869 - January 14, 1924) was an American businessman and the father of Howard Robard Hughes, Jr., the reclusive multi-millionaire. Hughes, Sr. created the fortune that Hughes, Jr. inherited at 18 years of age.
Hughes, Sr. was born in Lancaster, Missouri. His parents were Felix Turner Hughes and Jean Amelia Summerlin, who were married in 1865. His brother Rupert Hughes was a well known novelist and screenwriter.
Hughes attended Harvard for awhile, then studied law at the University of Iowa. He never graduated, but practiced law with his father. He pursued various opportunities, before he followed the Spindletop oil discovery to Texas, and entered the oil business. He invented a drilling bit that revolutionized drilling.
He cofounded The Sharp-Hughes Tool Company with Walter Sharp based in Houston, Texas in 1909. The essential asset of Hughes Tool was Hughes's patent for his oil drilling bit. The fees for licensing this technology were the basis of Hughes Tool's revenues. Hughes was a classic entrepreneur, trying and failing at many endeavors before he finally found his niche. He was also classic in his disregard for the effect of his wide-ranging business travels and endeavors on his family.
Hughes married in the early 1900s. He set out on his honeymoon with his bride on a trip around the world, and returned flat broke. Hughes lived in Houston, where Hughes Jr. also lived before his life in Los Angeles.
External links
- The Literary Legacy of Rupert Hughes (http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/Bai/kemm.htm)