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Howard Hughes: Bizarre Billionaire

How and why did a man so rich, so accomplished and so visible become so reclusive, phobic and fragile? Recent medical discoveries may explain the bizarre billionaire.

Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. (December 24, 1905^[2] – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, entrepreneur, aerospace engineer, film maker and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world. He gained prominence from the late 1920s as a maverick film producer, making big-budget and often-controversial films like The Racket (1928), Hell’s Angels (1930),Scarface (1932), and The Outlaw (1943). Hughes was one of the most influential aviators in history; he set multiple world air-speed records, built the Hughes H-1 Racer and H-4 “Hercules” (better known to history as the “Spruce Goose” aircraft), and acquired and expanded Trans World Airlines which would later on merge with American Airlines. Hughes is also remembered for his eccentric behavior and reclusive lifestyle in later life, caused in part by a worsening obsessive–compulsive disorder and chronic pain. His legacy is maintained through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.