How did Howard Hughes make his money

Q. Quite a businessman, then

A. Yes. But severely disturbed - probably a schizophrenic. Howard Robard Hughes Jr, died a billionaire on 5 April, 1976 - but without making a valid will.

Q. Huh

A. Hughes earned his initial wealth and fame by running successful companies, producing movies and breaking several world records as a pilot in the 1930s. His lasting notoriety came from 1950, when he went into complete seclusion.

Q. How did it all start, then

A. Hughes, born in Houston, was orphaned at 17 and inherited his father's oilfield equipment business worth nearly $1 million. In 1909, Howard Hughes Sr patented a rotary drill bit with 166 cutting edges that penetrated thick rock, revolutionizing oil drilling worldwide - and made the family a fortune. Although shy and retiring, young Hughes was determined to get into the movies. They fascinated him. Within two years he moved to Hollywood where he produced Hell's Angels (1930), Scarface (1932) and The Outlaw (1943), among other films. He introduced Jean Harlow and Jane Russell to cinema audiences.

Q. It grew and it grew

A. His business empire expanded to include Hughes Aircraft Company, RKO Pictures Corporation, a controlling interest in Trans World Airlines, and property in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Q. And his interest in planes

A. In 1938, he set an aviation record, flying around the world in 91 hours 14 minutes in a Lockheed 14. He also designed the Spruce Goose, a 700-passenger wooden flying boat that was flown only once - for one mile, 70ft off the ground.

Q. Romance

A. Pure Hollywood: Ava Gardner, Katherine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Terry Moore and Lana Turner. He eventually married, and divorced, actress Jean Peters. He also had a liking for the voluptuous Jane Russell, who appeared in his most sensational film, The Outlaw, and even designed a bra for her.

Q. And then drop-out

A. Yes. In the 1950s, when Hughes ranked as one of the world's richest men, he suddenly disappeared from public life. In 1946 he had been critically injured in a plane crash and started taking painkillers to which he became addicted. Living in darkened hotel rooms, he moved from hotel to hotel with a trusted retinue of men in suits. In 1971, however, a Hughes autobiography was announced...

Q. Seems unlikely

A. It was. It was a fake - invented by writer Clifford Irving, who sold the manuscript for $750,000. He was later jailed for fraud - but it made Hughes surface to deny its veracity. The legend of the reclusive Hughes, however, grew.

Q. Did this bring Hughes out into the open

A. No. He went back into hiding, moving from hotel to hotel in the Bahamas, States, Mexico and even England. He also developed strange obsessions including a fear of germs. He refused to cut his fingernails or hair, and would eat only one meal a day. Emaciated, he died on 5 April, 1976, onboard a plane from Acapulco to Houston.

Q. And the will

A. He died without an heir or an official will; his estate was valued as $2 billion. Several wills appeared, including one found in Salt Lake City at the offices of the Mormon Church, but all were proved fakes.

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By Steve Cunningham