Doris Duke

"Buck" Duke was the founder of the American Tobacco Company. He died on October 10, 1925 at the age of 68. His daughter Doris was 12 years old. Upon Buck's death, Doris inherited a $100 million trust fund. That inheritance instantly made 12 year old Doris the second richest person in the world. In 1962 Doris inherited an additional $250 million after her mother Nanaline died. In total, Doris was worth the present day equivalent of $3 billion before her 40th birthday. Doris married twice. In 1935, she married a gold-digging social climber named James Cromwell. Cromwell would soon use his wife's money to finance an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate. While they were married, Doris became pregnant. She secretly confided to friends that Cromwell wasn't the father. The child was actually the product of an affair she had while on a cross-country train trip. A daughter, Arden, was born prematurely and lived for just 24 hours. Doris and James Cromwell divorced in 1943. She married again in 1947 to a diplomat from the Dominican Republic named Porfirio Rubirosa. There was one tiny obstacle before they got married. Porfirio was already married. According to legend, Doris was so head over heels for him that she offered his current wife $1 million to divorce him quickly. The offer was accepted. Even after a $1 million bribe, this marriage only lasted a year. Rubirosa turned out to be a world-class womanizer who had dalliances with a number of famous women. Fortunately, Doris had an iron-clad prenup. After they divorced he married her arch-nemesis, Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton. His marriage to Hutton only lasted 53 days. Doris had a number of high-profile affairs as well. Her lovers supposedly included Duke Kahanamoku, Errol Flynn, British politician Alec Cunningham-Reid, and General George Patton. Doris had a priceless art collection. She was especially passionate about Southeast Asian and Islamic art. The collection is on public display at her former estate in Hawaii, which is now the Museum of Islamic Art, Culture, and Design. In 1966, Eduardo Tirella, the curator of her art collections, told Doris he was quitting to pursue a career as a production designer in the film industry. The two were overheard having a heated argument by the estate's staff just before they got into a station wagon to leave. He was killed as Doris drove the vehicle. Newport police ruled the death an accident. Tirella's family sued Doris for wrongful death. They were awarded $$75,000. In 1984, Doris met a woman named Chandi Heffner in Hawaii. The two women developed a deep bond almost instantly. For some reason, Doris actually came to believe that Chandi was the reincarnation of her daughter Arden. The two traveled the world together, enjoying Doris' wealth. Chandi managed Doris's staff and advised her on financial matters. They were inseparable and traveled between Doris's huge New Jersey farm, her Newport, Rhode Island estate, and "Shangri-La," her palatial property on Oahu, Hawaii. Doris adopted Chandi in 1988. Chandi was 35 years old. She also reportedly promised to take care of Chandi in the manner she'd become accustomed to for the rest of her life and make her the executor of her will. But something changed and Doris cut Chandi out of her life and her will in 1991. Chandi who brought the other significant relationship of Doris' senior years into their lives when she recommended Bernard Lafferty as a butler. Bernard had formerly worked for Chandi's sister Charlene who had recently married billionaire Nelson Peltz. Bernard was Irish and an orphan who emigrated to the U.S. when he was 35. Doris hired him as her butler in 1987. He endeared himself to Doris and became her closest confidant and constant companion. Doris Duke died on October 28, 1993 at the age of 80. Upon her death Bernard was put in charge of the estate. At the time of her death, Doris had a total net worth of $5.3 billion. This included her cash and investments, homes in New Jersey, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Beverly Hills, her jewelry, and her art collection, which in addition to her Southeast Asian and Islamic holdings, included works by Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh, and Rembrandt. She had a collection of rare wine –more than 2,000 bottles valued at over $5 million. Chandi was left nothing and sued the estate claiming she was owed a large amount of money as Doris' legal daughter. Chandi was awarded $65 million in 1995. Chandi lives on a ranch Doris purchased for her in Hawaii. Bernard died in 1996 of a heart attack in his sleep in his $2.1 million Bel-Air home.