Harry Helmsley

Harry B. Helmsley (* 4. March 1909 ; † 4. January 1997 in Scottsdale , Arizona ) was a real estate - tycoon whose company one of the largest in the United States was. The company's portfolio included the Empire State Building , the Helmsley Building , the Park Lane Hotel and the New York Helmsley Hotel (also known as the New York Harley).

His wife, Leona Helmsley - also known as "Queen of Mean" - was founded in 1989 in a much-publicized trial for tax evasion convicted. Helmsley was co-indicted, but it was found that he was too physically ill to stand on trial and too weak mentally to defend himself adequately with his lawyers.

Life

Helmsley went to Evander Childs High School in the Bronx , then went to no college, but started real estate business at the age of 16 in 1925 . He worked for Dwight, Veerhis & Perry, where he rose from being an errand boy (for $ 12 a week) to becoming a broker partner. He finally bought the company in 1938 and renamed it Dwight, Voorhis & Helmsley.

In the same year he married Ella Eva Green Sherpick, a widow .

In 1955 he acquired the competitor Spear & Company, which became Helmsley-Spear and expanded his holdings in Lower Manhattan . He also bought Brown Harris Stevens real estate company, which brought him into the sale and management of rental and cooperative housing. There he hired Leona Roberts as Senior Vice President in 1970.

He separated from his first wife Eve in 1971 and married Leona in 1972.

In 1980 Helmsley received the Gold Medal from The Hundred Year Association of New York "in recognition of service to the City of New York."

Helmsley died at the age of 87 of pneumonia in hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona, leaving his entire $ 5.5 billion net worth to his wife, Leona. His remains were initially interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York City , but were later reburied in Sleepy Hollow , New York Cemetery .

TV movie

1990 was directed by Richard Michaels of the television film The Dollar Queen (original title: Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean ) in which Lloyd Bridges took over the role of Harry Helmsley.

Web links

• Detailed life and company history with an extensive bibliography (English)