William Randolph Hearst was born on the 29th of April, 1863 in San Francisco, California, and died on the 14th August, 1951 in Beverly Hills, California, USA. He was a businessman who managed to create the publishing branch that evolved into a huge newspaper network. His methods have influenced the industry of journalism in the USA. More, he was elected as a member of the House of Representatives (1903 – 1907). Additionally, he participated in elections for the position of the Mayor of New York City in 1905 and in 1909, and Governor of New York State in 1906. Undoubtedly, all the aforementioned engagements added sums to the overall size of William Randolph Hearst’s net worth.
How much was the net worth of William Randolph Hearst? It has been estimated that the wealth of the businessman was as much as $35 billion at its height. His assets included castles in California, USA and Wels, UK as well as lots of other real estate. More, he owned a huge collection of art works.
William Randolph Hearst Net Worth $35 Billion
To begin with, Hearst began his life as a businessman in 1887. At that time he took the control of the newspaper The San Francisco Examiner, which his father was responsible for. Moving to New York, he bought the New York Journal and entered a publishing and newspaper business war with Joseph Pulitzer. Hearst created the notion of “yellow journalism” – sensational stories of dubious veracity. Buying more newspapers, he created a network of over 30, and later he also bought magazines, creating one of the world’s largest journalism conglomerates. Overall, journalism was the key to increasing the total size of William Randolph Hearst’s net worth and certainly his influence – he had a distinct effect on the US going to war with Spain over the Philippines in 1898, which also had consequences for Cuba, much closer to the USA.
William Randolph Hearst was twice elected to serve as a Democrat member for the House of Representatives. He ran unsuccessfully for the position mayor of New York in 1905 and 1909, as well as for the position of the state governor in 1906 and deputy governor in 1910. Even though he failed, he was popular among Democrat party leaders. Still, with his newspapers and magazines he wielded enormous political influence and was accused of making sensationalist journalism. Despite he represented the populist wing of the Democrats for over thirty years, Hearst was a conservative, nationalist and fervent anti-communist. Defender of prohibition, he did lobby through his newspapers to introduce several illegal psychotropic drugs, especially those affecting industries that financed their newspapers, such as pharmaceuticals or the celluloid industry. He was known to be one of the main supporters of the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937, which outlawed marijuana in the USA. Like others of his initiatives, he used the power of his newspapers to try to manipulate public opinion, bringing support for policy initiatives he supported.
His life was the inspiration for the main character of the drama film “Citizen Kane” (1941) co-written, produced and directed by Orson Welles and many other works like the novels “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand and “Narratives of Empire” by Gore Vidal as well as other works.
Finally, in the personal life of the businessman and politician, he was married to Millicent Veronica Willson from 1903 until his passing, although they separated in the mid-1920s and Hearst lived with his mistress, actress Marion Davies, with whom he had a daughter. Hearst and Millicent had six children, five of whom were boys.
