Texas oil tycoon Nelson Bunker Hunt died Tuesday at an assisted living facility in Dallas at the age of 88 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Hunt was once one of the richest men in the world, inheriting his wealth from his father, famed oil magnate H.L. Hunt.
Hunt’s fortune began to dwindle in the early 1970s after Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi seized his assets in the country.
After losing his Libyan assets, Hunt — along with his brothers Herbert and Lamar — began investing in the silver market and eventually controlled about half of the world’s supply.
However, in 1980 a crash in the silver market slashed the value of Hunt’s silver down to a fifth of their peak price.
Drops in oil prices and problems with his real estate and sugar business further eroded his fortune.
In 1988, having lost billions in the silver crash and with creditors closing in, Hunt declared bankruptcy.
Hunt’s lawyers were able to shield trusts set up by his father and he continued to live modestly for the rest of his life.
Hunt and his wife, Caroline, had four children.
