Leona Helmsley was a wealthy hotel heiress with a reputation for harshness and avarice. She had little regard for her family, leaving them with meager inheritances, while most of her fortune went to Trouble, her favorite dog.
When she died in 2007, her Maltese heirs received a whopping $12 million trust, but her human heirs received very little if anything at all.
Her staff dreaded Leona Helmsley because of her domineering personality and dictatorial character. Her involvement in her husband’s hotel company only compounded this image, making her a public leper.
She placed a high value on her fortune and assets, with her beloved dog, Trouble, at the top of her priority list.
The “Nasty Queen” moniker derives from Leona Helmsley’s authoritarian and greedy personality. Even after she died, she made sure that her hold on her money would last much beyond her lifetime, leaving the majority to her beloved feline friend.
Her dubious past only adds to her notoriety, with former associates having personal knowledge of her dealings, both morally and otherwise.
Leona Helmsley, a wealthy American businesswoman, made news after she kicked her son’s widow and children out of their house after her son, Jay, died.
When an intruder infiltrated her, Jay was the only child to aid her. She justified her conduct by claiming that she was repaying a $100,000 loan and that the Helmsley Estate owned everything within the mansion.
Surprisingly, the only living person she seemed to adore was her pet dog, Trouble. When Leona died in 2007, she unexpectedly omitted two grandchildren from the trust fund she had set up.
Trouble, on the other hand, received a stunning $12 million from her estate. She appointed her brother Alvin to handle Trouble’s care and left him a significant legacy.
Leona’s treatment of her family was not wholly hostile; she left millions of dollars to her late son’s children on the condition that they visit their father’s cemetery every year.
She also set aside $3 million for the upkeep of the tomb, where she and Trouble were finally intended to be interred.
To top it all off, the revenues from Leona’s estate sale, which is expected to be worth billions of dollars, will be donated to the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.
Leona Helmsley’s legacy lives on despite her unusual dying desires and troubled ties with her loved ones.
Leona Mindy Roberts Helmsley, an intelligent operator, and real estate investor, amassed multibillion-dollar wealth through her multiple businesses and successful hostelries.
When her husband, Harry Helmsley, died in 1997, he bequeathed her his business. Trouble, her beloved white Maltese, was bequeathed 12 million dollars in the trust after she died in 2007.
In addition to the substantial quantity of money given to Trouble, Leona had chosen Alvin Rosenthal, her brother, as trustee of her estate and permanent guardian of the spoiled pup.
Furthermore, Leona named five executors to handle what remained of her property; nevertheless, the fact that this large sum was allotted to Trouble before anyone else – even her children and grandchildren – generated a scandal within the family.
Despite this, Leona’s grandchildren appeared to understand why their grandma had left them nothing regarding inheritance when she died.
Given Leona’s wealth, it’s no wonder that such an enormous present was given to Trouble following her death.
After all, she did own multiple residential properties such as co-ops, condos, and apartments, as well as being New York City’s most successful hotelier, so it only seems fair that something similar is done for an animal that played a significant role in Leona’s life.
Furthermore, for Trouble to receive the most excellent care possible (even after their death), Alvin had picked a beautiful, 12,000-square-foot family mausoleum to stay in following Leona’s death.
There is little question that, despite any disagreements within the family due to this gesture towards Trouble, they all had great love and affection for their late grandmother and respected her choice.
Leona Helmsley was, to put it mildly, a formidable woman. She had been married twice before marrying Harry and was known for brutality. While she was a stunning woman, working for her was a different story.
She terrified everyone at the Helmsley Hotels, where she rose to fame in advertising. They were so concerned that they devised a mechanism to notify personnel when she visited one of their numerous hotels.
What made Leona Helmsley so terrifying? For starters, she was notorious for firing people on the spur of the moment. Furthermore, in the late 1990s, she was convicted of tax evasion and fraud, and her penalties were astonishing.
In addition to two years in prison, she had to pay about $8 million in fines and taxes. She was ordered to perform 750 hours of community service after her release, but when it was discovered that she was forcing her workers to accomplish part of these hours, the judge ordered her to serve 150 hours extra.
Leona Helmsley had a low opinion of the law, as her former cleaner proved when she claimed Helmsley once commented, “Only the tiny people pay taxes.”
Finally, the Queen of Mean, as Helmsley was dubbed, was not someone to be flirted with. Her notoriety left an unforgettable imprint on the public, and even now, people speak about her with awe and trepidation.
Despite her fall from grace, she never lost her unyielding feeling of entitlement, which may have contributed to her success as an entrepreneur.
