[7], Regulators contended that the company was making medicinal claims. According to a court-ordered audit, in 2005, the value of 13 year old Alex Hughes' trust fund had grown to $400 million. Hughes relatives discovered his body, and they notified authorities, Thomas said. [45] In the U.S., the company has manufacturing facilities in Lake Forest, California[46] and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. As if that wasn't bad enough, the trustees also reportedly turned down a higher offer from a much more qualified buyer. Heart doctors debate ethics of testing super-aspirin, Texas cattle quarantined after violation of mad-cow feed ban, Ceramist Adler adds furniture to his creations. He died of apparent natural causes but an autopsy will determine the cause of death, she said. [23]:15[24] In April 2003, Michael O. Johnson joined Herbalife as CEO following a 17-year career with The Walt Disney Company. Last year, while he was seeking financing to buy his companys outstanding shares, Hughes was battling homeowners in Benedict Canyon over his plans to build a 45,000-square-foot Mediterranean villa. Customer Service. The unqualified purchaser eventually defaulted on his payments. It was certainly a wild ride while it lasted. The company was founded by Mark R. Hughes in 1980,[3] and it employs an estimated 9,900 people worldwide. He had already covered the purchase of a mansion for Suzan and Alex in Beverly Hills ,and would continue to pay for Alex's private schools and vacations. The first was an undeveloped plot of land in Malibu called Tower Grove. This would allow Alex to manage the money himself and potentially inherit a much larger portion much sooner than the age of 35. Mark Reynolds Hughes, Herbalife's founder and president, is among witnesses who have been subpoenaed. As of 2015, 58 percent of the company's nutrition products were manufactured at Herbalife-owned facilities. The company's slogan "Lose Weight Now, Ask Me How", became a pop-culture catch phrase that was be plastered onto buttons, posters, billboards, flyers etc Herbalife conducted recruitment seminars that featured feel good weight-loss testimonials and a keynote address from Mr. Hughes. [15] Suzan filed for divorce from Hughes in September 1997. [49], In 2008, Herbalife was sued after laboratory tests indicated that levels of lead in several Herbalife products were in excess of California state law[50] and could lead to liver problems over an extended period of time. LOS ANGELES -- The death of Herbalife International Inc. founder and Chief Executive Mark Hughes last month was an accident, said the Los Angeles County Coroner's office. By the early 90s, Herbalife's annual revenues topped $1 billion. Specifically, we're gonna take a look at the life story of Herbalife founder Mark Hughes. In 2012, the 20 year old Alex Hughes finally had his day in court. Customer Service. The product debuted in 1980 and, as of 2015, was the company's best selling product accounting for nearly 30% of total sales. He left The Times in 2015. [83][84], Critics of the company's structure have contended that it has operated as a pyramid scheme. His blood alcohol level was 0.21% (more than double the drunk driving level). He bought two adjacent houses for $1 million each, and then had them bulldozed to expand his backyard. The coroner said Mr. Hughes died from a combination of alcohol and medication. You will be notified in advance of any changes in rate or terms. Christopher Pair appointed president and CEO of the natural products company, the firm announces June 6. Throughout the growth of the company, three key players--two from Hughes reform school days and one who knew how to manufacture weight-loss products--fought for his ear while helping to chart Herbalifes course. In the wake of its founder's death, Herbalife remains something of a . Bloomberg News / August 11, 2000. [8] His first product was a protein shake designed to help people manage their weight. [14] On December 16, 2004, the company had an initial public offering on the NYSE of 14.5 million common shares at $14 per share,[25] netting the owners $1.3billion. [7], In March 1985, the California attorney general and the state Department of Health Services charged he and Herbalife with making "untrue or misleading" product claimsprimarily involving the caffeine content of some Herbalife productsand operating an "endless chain marketing scheme. "[7], During the hearing, Hughes acknowledged that his own formal education stopped at the 9th grade. He was just 44 years old and had been suffering for several months from insomnia and a recurring case of pneumonia. "The approval there was based on how much funds you raised," Hughes told People magazine in 1985. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. She tried and failed once again to rouse him at 1 a.m., according to the autopsy. 2023 Celebrity Net Worth / All Rights Reserved. Mark Hughes was an extraordinarily unique person who lived an extraordinarily unique life. $1 billion. Revenues were generated both by outside sales and through the companys network of 750,000 independent distributors, who bought Herbalife products in a multilevel pyramid, then resold them to individual consumers. Hughes's will stipulated that, until Alex turns 35, the bulk of his inheritance would be held in a trust managed by Jack Reynolds (Alex's paternal grandfather), attorney Conrad Klein, and Herbalife executive Christopher Pair. The whole Ackman saga is fascinating enough to deserve its own dedicated article on Celebrity Net Worth, but for now we're gonna take a look at a different, equally insane story from the Herbalife chronology. Hughes died after a 4-day drinking binge, apparently from an overdose of alcohol and the antidepressant drug doxepin. He also had an elevated level of the drug Doxepin. Hughes became the school's best salesman. When asked during the hearing how he could be qualified to challenge leading medical experts, Hughes snapped: I defy anybody to be able to produce results as this company has.. Her death was the result of an accidental overdose of prescription diet pills and alcohol which (spoiler alert) would be eerily similar to how Mark himself would die many years later. Mark Reynolds Hughes, the wealthy 44-year-old founder of Herbalife International Inc., was found dead in his Malibu beachfront mansion Sunday morning, apparently of natural causes, a sheriffs spokesman said. The tangled web of litigation can cause some pretty funny alliances at times. The rift between these individuals took a public twist Tuesday. Mark Hughes believed that one person can make a difference and that difference is a healthier world. He was fined $1,762; sentenced to a day in jail, 12 months probation and court-ordered psychiatric counseling; and told to stay clear of Saks, according to court records. After Mark and Darcy were married, she refused to live at Tower Grove because it reminded her too much of Suzan, so Mark bought a new $25 million house in Malibu for them to live in. AllRightsReserved. [79] Interestingly, race, genetics, age, and sex are all potential risk factors that may predispose individuals to Herbalife side effects[80], In December 2020, a 2019 paper analysing Herbalife's slimming products' association with one patient's fatal acute liver failure was retracted by the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology. [14], In September 1987, Hughes married Suzan Schroder, a former actress, court reporter and Miss Petite U.S.A.[14] In December 1991, Hughes' and his wife, Suzan Hughes, had his sole son, Alexander Reynolds "Alex" Hughes. [42][43] The facility produces botanical extracts, including teas, guarana, chamomile, broccoli, and bilberry, for use in many of the company's products. At midnight, she went to sleep after he ''resisted her efforts'' to wake him. LOS ANGELES - Mark Hughes, the controversial 44-year-old founder, chairman and chief executive of nutritional and diet products maker Herbalife International Inc., was found dead in his $25 million beachfront mansion, apparently of natural causes, officials said Monday. By January of each year, sales leaders are required to requalify. In the mid-1980s, Hughes, who was 24 when he started his company, was sued by the Food and Drug Administration, the California attorney generals office, and the state Department of Health, over what they said were false health claims about Herbalife products and the various schemes used to market them. This vote of confidence helped increase Herbalife's stock price significantly. Will Force Major Changes", "Herbalife Settles Pyramid Probe as FTC Seeks Major Changes", "Herbalife Is Paying a $200 Million Fine and Having a Great Day", "Redress checks and compliance checks: Lessons from the FTC's Herbalife and Vemma cases", "FTC says Herbalife refund checks are in the mail", "Herbalife to Pay $20 Million for Misleading Investors", "Herbalife Nutrition to pay $20 million to settle false disclosure charges: U.S. SEC", "Herbalife to Pay $20 Million to Settle SEC Fraud Claims", "Former Herbalife Executives Charged With Conspiracy to Bribe Chinese Officials", "Herbalife Sets Aside $40 Million for Bribery Settlement", "Herbalife pays $123m to resolve Chinese bribery claims", "Herbalife Announces Five-Year Sponsorship Of Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo", "C.B. There's been no proven link to liver problems. Scott Carrier, of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, said final autopsy results found that Hughes, 44, had high levels of both alcohol and an antidepressant in his blood. Darcy LaPier became Mr. Hughes's fourth wife on Feb. 14, 1999. Early marketing materials said Marconi was a well-respected nutritional expert with a doctorate who helped develop the Herbalife Slim & Trim diet product. Wife #4, Darcy LaPiere (the Hawaiian Tropic model), had previously been married to action star Jean-Claude Van Damme. He owned a $25 million beach front mansion in Malibu. The Rohns owned and worked a farm in Caldwell, Idaho, where Jim grew up as an only child. [citation needed] In 1982, Herbalife received complaints from the Food and Drug Administration for claims made about certain products and the inclusion of mandrake, poke root, and food-grade linseed oil in another. He wrote frequently about consumer and safety issues in the car business and the relationship between the auto industry and the state and national economies. Jobs died in 2011. Listed A Year Ago For $1 BILLION "The Mountain Of Beverly Hills" Just Sold For $100,000. As part of his divorce agreement from a year earlier, Mark's estate would also continue to pay ex-wife Suzan $10,000 a month in child support. [8], Hughes began his career in 1976 at Seyforth Laboratories selling diet products. Unfortunately for Alex, he wouldn'tbe able to touch the money until he turned 35, in the year 2027. [51] The company commissioned its own lab testing and found that those products did not contain high enough amounts of lead to require special labeling. [91][92] These suspicions were proved correct in January 2013 when at an investor meeting Einhorn revealed that he had profited through a short position against the company. 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