Leona Helmsley

13 Stories

Executors of Billionaire's Estate Want $6K Per Hour

'Exorbitant, unreasonable, and improper'

(Newser) - How much should you get paid for handling the estate of a dead billionaire? Apparently $100 million—or more than $6,400 per hour—If that estate belongs to Leona Helmsley , the Wall Street Journal reports. “By any definition, this hourly rate is exorbitant, unreasonable, and improper,” states...

4 Crazy Rich, Famous Pets
 4 Crazy Rich, 
 Famous Pets 
Sep 21, 2014 1:25 PM CDT

4 Crazy Rich, Famous Pets

Including Paris Hilton's $13K puppy

(Newser) - It's good to be a celebrity ... pet. OK! magazine runs down seven of the richest and/or most expensive famous animals:
  • Paris Hilton spent $13,000 on a teeny-tiny Pomeranian, Mr. Amazing, who weighs less than one pound.
  • Lauren Bacall loved her pup Sophie so much that when she died
...

So Long, Trouble: Leona Helmsley's $2M Dog Dead

Dog was subject of death threats, died after series of health issues

(Newser) - Considering her time on Earth was filled with rides in stretch limos and private jets, doggie heaven might not be much better for Trouble. Leona Helmsley's pampered pooch died at age 12 in December, and her death was kept secret for months. The pup, who the New York Daily ...

NY 'Madoff Law' Would Force Rich Inmates to Pay for Jail

(Newser) - New York lawmakers are considering a “Madoff” bill that would force convicts with deep pockets to pay the costs of their own imprisonment, Reuters reports. “Far too often, taxpayers are stuck with the bill for criminals who have extensive personal wealth waiting for them,” one assemblyman said...

Leona's Mansion Makes History: Price Drops $50M

(Newser) - The asking price for the late real estate magnate-cum-jailbird Leona Helmsley’s Connecticut mansion has been slashed by $50 million, the Wall Street Journal reports. The 40-acre Greenwich property is now offered for $75 million, down from $125 million. Insiders think it could be the largest cut ever for a...

Helmsley Cash Doesn't Have to Go to Dogs

Judge nixes late Queen of Mean's mission statement

(Newser) - Leona Helmsley's fortune won't be going exclusively to canine charities after all, the New York Times reports. A judge decided yesterday that the famously prickly late hotelier's instruction in her will that all of her $8 billion go toward helping dogs was not binding, clearing the way for the trustees...

It's Our Tax Money Going to Helmsley's Dogs
It's Our Tax Money Going to Helmsley's Dogs
Opinion
Jul 9, 2008 8:27 AM CDT

It's Our Tax Money Going to Helmsley's Dogs

Charitable donation laws subsidize the whims of the rich

(Newser) - Leona Helmsley’s latest post-mortem shocker—the revelation that she earmarked $8 billion of her charitable bequest for dog welfare—is a perfect illustration of the insanity of our charity laws, writes Ray Madoff for the New York Times. Helmsley isn’t just spending her own money; because charitable donations...

Queen of Mean's Billions Go to the Dogs

With $8B, Helmsley trust will dwarf all animal charities

(Newser) - Leona Helmsley made headlines last year for leaving $12 million to her dog while stiffing two of her grandchildren. But the pooch's payday looks like small change compared to the bonanza in store for America's dogs, the New York Times reports. A charitable trust being built with the late hotel...

Judge to Helmsley's Dog: Let Go of That

Pooch must scrape by on $2M; snubbed grandkids cash in

(Newser) - Leona Helmsley’s dog, Trouble, turns out not to need that $12 million trust fund after all. The world's most spoiled Maltese will manage on $2 million, and the rest will go to charity, the New York Post reports.

Death Threats Drive Heiress Dog Into Hiding

Helmsley's $12M pooch flees to undisclosed location in Fla.

(Newser) - When the Queen of Mean left her pampered pooch $12 million, it only spelled trouble for Trouble. Leona Helmsley's spoiled Maltese, whose annual upkeep bills run to $300,000, was forced to flee her Connecticut estate after a flood of death and abduction threats by blackmailers hungry for the dog’...

Millionaire Dog May Have to Fight for Her Biscuits

World's richest pooch already faces lawsuit

(Newser) - When billionaire hotelier Leona Helmsley bequeathed $12 million to her pooch before she died last month, it's a good thing she left the eight-year-old Maltese enough to hire  a good lawyer. Trouble, who was inseparable from the 'Queen of Mean' when she was alive, and had a propensity to bite...

Helmsley's Heir Is the Dog
Helmsley's Heir Is the Dog
Aug 29, 2007 1:16 PM CDT

Helmsley's Heir Is the Dog

Queen of Mean leaves $12M to Trouble, a bunch to charity, ignores 2 grandkids

(Newser) - When the Queen of Mean’s will was read, Trouble, the billionaire hotel magnate’s pampered, biting Maltese, came calling. Leona Helmsley left $12 million to the 8-year-old pooch, along with $38 million to three other family members. The rest—between $4 and $8 billion—went to her charity trust,...

Hotelier Helmsley Dead at 87
Hotelier Helmsley Dead at 87
Aug 20, 2007 1:21 PM CDT

Hotelier Helmsley Dead at 87

'Queen of Mean' learns certainty of death, if not taxes

(Newser) - Leona Helsmley, the notoriously tyrannical real-estate baroness dubbed New York’s “Queen of Mean,” died of heart failure today at 87. The Brooklyn native took the reins of her husband Harry's real-estate empire in the 70s, and soon her name was synonymous with both luxe hotels and the...

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