Imagine becoming a billionaire at the age of 12. What would you do? Imagine going through your 20s with all the money and power in the world. What would you buy? That's unimaginable. But the dark side is many people would try to kidnap you everywhere you went. You couldn't trust anyone, not even your security team, because even they could be in on it to get a piece of that money. You would have no real friends. No partner will love you for you. and you would suffer from immense depression from the constant stress and isolation. You probably would become a spoiled brat and see people as easily controlled and can be bought because everyone worships you in hopes of benefiting from your wealth. You now start to feel like you are above the law. You get so power high that even murder is something you feel you could easily get away with until one day you actually get away with it. Does this sound fictional? Well, it's not. This was the life, the real life of Doris Duke. Yes, before you ask, Doris Duke was related to Duke University. She was the daughter of James B. Duke, who was a major benefactor of the university and the founder of the American Tobacco Company. The university was formerly named Duke University in his honor. Doris Duke inherited a significant fortune from her father and also contributed to the university's development through philanthropy, including donating money for various projects and initiatives. In today's video, we will discuss one of the most dramatic stories of the 20th century. But first, hey friend, welcome to my channel, Karina, where we break down and deep dive the most iconic stars through history. If you're not yet subscribed, please be sure to do so. And if you're already subscribed, please turn on your notification bell so that you never miss an upload. Now, without further ado, let's get into this video. Doris Duke entered the world on November 22nd, 1912 in the bustling heart of New York City. She was the only kid of James Buchanan Duke, a big wig in the tobacco and hydroelect electric game, and his second wife, Natalene Holt Inman, who had already seen her fair share of drama as a widow. Doris's dad passed away while Doris was 12 years old. At his death, he left her and her mom, Nalene, a whopping fortune, around a h 100red million, which is like 1.2 billion today. And you guys are going to see how she flipped that into 5.6 billion. But when it came to the family will, things got messy. In 1927, Doris found herself in a legal battle over her dad's estate, ultimately coming out on top against her own mother and the other estate executives. She didn't just get a one-time payout. She received her inheritance in chunks on her 21st, 25th, and 30th birthdays thanks to her father's wishes. But just when you think the drama ends there, her mother passed away and left Doris a pretty petty inheritance. While her father had been generous, Nana's will was icy. Doris got little more than just jewelry and a coat. Just a month shy of her 17th birthday, the Wall Street crash of 1929 hit, kicking off the Great Depression. While most folks were struggling, Doris's family was sitting pretty. They didn't even feel the depression at all. They were that wealthy. But their wealth turned her into a target. Suddenly, everyone was buzzing about the richest girl in the world. And not in a good way. The tabloids were all over her, documenting her every move. And it didn't help that she stood a striking 6 ft tall, making her impossible to miss at any fancy event. She soon found herself needing constant security and could never just freely roam the streets or do casual things that everyone else was doing. When Doris turned 21, she finally got her first big slice of inheritance and dove head first into her passions, traveling the globe and soaking up the arts. Fluent in French and a lover of adventure, she made waves in Hawaii, becoming the first non- Hawaiian woman to take up competitive surfing. A sucker for animals, especially her dogs and pet camels. She also became a champion for wildlife. Music was another love of hers. She played piano from an early age, and had an appreciation for jazz that led her to befriend many musicians. Doris owned several homes, but her main home was Duke Farms, a sprawling 2700 acre estate in New Jersey, where she crafted the impressive Duke Gardens. Her Newport mansion, Ruff Point, was where she poured her heart into restoration projects during summer weekends. She even bought her own Boeing 737, decking it out like a cozy home to jet between her various residences and art collection trips. However, all that wealth came with its own set of vultures. Doris often expressed her worries about men only being interested in her money. After a few dates, they suddenly professed their love. But how can I tell if it's real? She lamented. And unfortunately, her fears turned out to be spot-on. After hitting 21, Doris became a tabloid darling, especially after meeting James HR Cromwell, a man who was 16 years older than her and had a complicated past of his own, having been previously married with a child. They tied the knot in 1935 with Doris just 22 at the time. But not everything was smooth sailing. In 1940, Doris got pregnant for the first time and was over the moon, only to face the heartbreaking loss of her baby girl just a day after giving birth. That tragedy took a heavy toll on her marriage. And by 1943, she and Cromwell were done. Life had thrown her some serious curveballs, but Doris Duke was anything but ordinary. Doris Duke had this wild rivalry with Barbara Hutton, another one of those poor little rich girls. I did a video for her also and have a playlist and in the comments for all the rich tycoons and like their tragic ends, all the pretty rich girls. Barbara Hutton's story was another wild one as well, so check that out. The tabloids dubbed the two women the gold dust twins, and it didn't help that they were constantly pitted against each other. Hutton, this petite beauty with classic looks, had Duke feeling a bit envious of her charm and grace, while Duke was all about being savvy with her cash. Hutton lived large, throwing money around like confetti and calling Duke cheap in the process. And then you know what's funny? She kept calling Doris Duke cheap because uh Doris was a little bit more conservative with her money and didn't really she wanted to more multiply it and wasn't as flashy as Barbara who was another rich tycoon was like the second richest woman in the world. And what's funny is at the end of the day Barbara Hutton died broke. She lost everything. She lost all her fortune and Duke didn't. though. It's pretty interesting. Things really escalated when Duke, in a moment of questionable judgment, invited her friend to crash at her place while she was out of town. Hutton took that invitation and ran with it, literally. When Duke came back, she found Hutton had gone fullon makeover mode, tossing out priceless antiques like they were yesterday's news. So, you can guess how that turned out and she kicked her out. Imagine you invite someone to come stay at your house and you leave for a little bit and then you come back and the person has renovated your whole house and thrown away everything that you did and replaced it with items they feel is better looking. How would you feel? Now, let's fast forward to a post World War II suare where Duke was winding down her foreign correspondent gig. She had some friends over and one of them brought along a guy named Rafiio Rubio Rosa. We're going to call him Ruby for short. Here's the catch. He was still married to French actress Danielle Dalio. But did that stop Duke? Absolutely not. Doris had her sight set on him and she was ready to play hard ball. She threw a whopping 1 million at Dalio just to get her to agree to a divorce. And guess what? It actually worked. Ruby was officially hers. But here's where things get juicy. Ruby was tight with Raphael Trillo, the dictator of the Dominican Republic, his first wife, Trujillo's daughter. So yeah, he was pretty well connected. Despite his notorious reputation as a womanizer, Trujillo kept him around even after he divorced his daughter. Duke knew about Ruby's past, but love can make you a little blind. She and Ruby signed a rock-solid prenup to protect her fortune, but they had another reason for it. Duke's wealth and Ruby's political ties raised some red flags for the United States and they were seen as a threat because of his political ties with the republic and so many other nations plus her wealth. She was wealthy enough to really uplift the whole nation and they didn't want her wealth to have to go to other nations. So that's why the American government was like no they basically forced him to sign a prenup. Can you imagine being so wealthy that the government has to come in and be like, "No, even if you don't want to, you're signing a brine up." That's insane. They tied the knot on September 1st, 1947. And even though her own government warned her to keep an eye on Ruby, she showered him with extravagant gifts, sports cars, a B-52 bomber, horses, you name it. Can you imagine all the money that she couldn't give him, you know, monetarily, she gave him through gifts. So again, their marriage was pretty glamorous. Things were unraveling though behind the scenes. Ruby was still seeing his first wife, the daughter of his boss, behind Duke's back. Just over a year in, Duke had enough and filed for divorce, citing extreme mental cruelty. Despite the prenup, Rubies walked away with a squanky 17th century Parisian pad and a nice $2,500 alimony check every year from Duke. He bounced back pretty well, though, cuz he was known for that, for, you know, seeking out rich women and getting money from them. And I don't know how he did it. Like he's like the ultimate gold digger as a male. If you guys want a video on him, comment below. If I get enough people that want a video on him, I'll do it because he dated some of the richest women in the world. I don't know how he kept getting away with it. So, he went after another Harris like Zazagabore, which I did a video for Zazagabore also, which is Paris Hilton's great aunt. I did a video for her, too. He somehow managed to bag her. Uh, that's interesting. But rumor on the streets was he had a pretty healthy package according not not to be TMI, but yeah, like magazines and tabloids were literally reporting on his package. And I guess that's what made the woman keep coming back to him. That's interesting. But the biggest blow and biggest betrayal was when Ruby went after Doris's old rival, Barbara Hutton. Yeah. The woman that, you know, the second richest woman in the world that redecorated her home. Yeah, Ruby Rosa also dragged out those alimony payments until his next marriage, taking his sweet time because the clause was if he got remarried, then Doris didn't have to pay him the 25 $25,000. So, he dragged that out. After Zaza rejected his proposal, he finally made it official with Hutton, and Duke found out about their marriage in the most brutal way. She stumbled upon the headline, "Ruby and Barbara Hutton wed while in Geneva." Let's just say her reaction was anything but graceful. She got drunk and started hurling insults at Hutton, claiming she always wanted what I had. After that drama, Duke never remarried. She was haunted by the fear that people were just out to get her money. And her whirlwind when marriage to Ruby only deepened that fear. But that didn't stop her from having her fair share of flings with high-profile men like General George S. Patton, Errol Flynn, and even her surf instructor. After two marriages that didn't bless her with kids, Duke decided to adopt at the ripe age of 75. But hold on, it gets crazier. This is actually a pretty crazy story. The woman she adopted was a 35-year-old hair Krishna devotey named Shandi Hefner. And the reason behind this choice was a little disturbing. Duke was convinced that Shandi was the reincarnation of her baby daughter who tragically passed away right after birth back in 1940. and Hefner took advantage of the still grieving Duke and really manipulated her into believing this nonsense. But just a few years later, Duke flipped the script, nullifying the adoption and removing Shandi from her will, making it crystal clear that she didn't want her to see a single dime. But we will see how this grifter came back in the end to try to milk more money from Duke's estate. Duke was rolling in dough, owning a bunch of fancy homes, including Duke Farms and Swanky spots in Beverly Hills, Manhattan, and a dreamy pad called Shangriila in Hawaii. But her pride and joy was a massive 49 room mansion named Ruff Point in Newport, Rhode Island. She was kneedeep in a redecoration project with interior designer Eduardo Terrella when tragedy struck. In 1966, Eduardo, who had been managing Duke's art collection for a decade, decided to ditch her for a gig in Hollywood. He wanted to be a set designer in Hollywood. And on October 6th, he flew to Newport to pack his stuff and break the news to Duke. His friends warned him, though, that she wouldn't take it lightly. She was known for having a bit of a reputation. The next day, the estate staff overheard them in a heated argument before they hopped into a rented Dodge Polaroa to leave. As they were pulling out, Eduardo got out of the car to open the gate. Duke slid over to the driver's seat and accidentally floored it, hitting Eduardo. He got dragged across the street and slammed against the tree where he took his last breath. Neighbors found Duke wandering around in shock, sporting some nasty head injuries. They rushed her to the hospital, but authorities didn't talk to her for 2 days because her doctor insisted that no, she's not able to talk right now. But people said it was because they were trying to buy her time to get her story straight. Meanwhile, the cowboys had a field day with the story. Rumors swell that Duke had been drinking when the accident happened. Her doctor tried to downplay the gossip, but his comments only made things worse, saying something like, "I'm convinced that enormous wealth bring great handicap, meaning accidents." You know, after investigating, authorities eventually deemed it a tragic event, believing Duke had already paid her dues from the guilt of the accident. So, her guilt for his death was enough and that she didn't have to suffer any real consequences. But, as it turned out, the evidence didn't match up with her story. Eduardo's sister, Alice Romano, wasn't having any of it and filed two lawsuits for negligence. One against the car rental company and another against Duke herself, each for a whopping 1.25 million. This time, the judge didn't cut her break, ruling her negligent and slapping her with a $75,000 fine, which eh, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't much. Fast forward to 2020 when Peter Lance, a Newport local and journalist, took another look at the case for Vanity Fair and uncovered some shocking truths. He pointed out that the investigation was sloppy and tainted by conflicts of interest. For instance, Duke had hired the medical examiner as her personal doctor right before he showed up at the hospital, meaning everything she told him was off limits. Lance found that Duke's account of the incident kept changing and didn't line up with the evidence the way she claimed parking brake was released didn't add up and all of Eduart's injuries were above his waist, suggesting he wasn't trapped between the car and the gates. As she had said, the tire marks in the gravel indicated way more speed than a simple pedal slip would cause. Lance and other experts concluded it was far more likely that Duke had run Eduardo down and a fit of rage over him leaving her for Hollywood. Not long after the case was closed, Duke started showering the city with donations. A classic move for the rich when you know the guilt starts to set in. You always see them start to do a lot for their city. Get the key to the city. Yeah, that's what she started to do. She launched a Newport Restoration Foundation, which went on to restore 84 colonial buildings in the city. Meanwhile, the police chief retired to Florida shortly after, treating himself to a couple of condos, and the detective who investigated the incident took over his position instead of the Nicks in line. Mhm. So, do you see how it's like everyone involved in the case somehow became rich and could retire in these countries with no consequences? Even now, Whispers and Ner suggest there was a cover up. All thanks to Duke's so-called blood money. Doris Duke was no ordinary Harris. She was a real life mogul with her fingers in all sorts of pies. Picture this. She had her hands on a bunch of shares in major companies like General Motors and an entire team of bankers and accountants keeping her financial empire in check. But that's just the start. Her art collection was a stuff of legends. flaunting pieces from the likes of Picasso, Van Go, Rambrandt, and Monae alongside stunning Islamic and Southeast Asian art and furniture. And let's not forget the 2,000 plus bottles of rare wine worth over $5 million and a treasure trove of fine jewels. All in all, her net worth was a jaw-dropping 5.3 billion. In the late8s, she showed some heart by donating 2 million to Duke University for AIDS research. Her foundation independent aid morphed into the Doris Duke foundation which is still making waves in the grant making scene today. But as she aged, Doris became quite the character. Let's just say eccentric doesn't even begin to cover it. She went through a series of plastic surgeries that made her look less like herself and more like a walking gallery of questionable choices. And for Kicks, she adopted a bunch of pet camels to roam her estate. Yeah. Now, while she seemed all calm and collected on the outside, there was a fierce battle brewing behind the scenes. Doris had a reputation for constantly switching up who would execute her will, bouncing from her nephew, Walker Inman Jr. to her longtime butler, Bernard Laferdy. And then things took a dramatic turn. At 79, she decided to go under the knife for yet another facelift, but this one went horribly wrong. While recovering and a bit loopy on medication, she tried to walk and ended up falling, breaking her hip, which eventually led to a knee replacement. It was all downhill from there. In late 1993, after a knee surgery, Doris suffered a stroke and never fully bounced back. She passed away at home on October 28th, 1993, leaving Laferdy in charge of her estate. But here's where it gets juicy. He had his own skeletons lurking in the closet. Harry Demopolos, a guy Doris had previously named as executive, came forward with some chilling claims about Laferdy. Allegedly, when Doris was weak and fragile, Laferty pressured her into changing the will. Then there was Tammy Payeti, one of Doris's nurses, who accused Laferdy of colluding with a doctor to speed up Doris's exit by giving her extra meds. But after Laferdy died, authorities found no solid evidence. So whatever dirt he had went to the grave with him. Doris, knowing the drama that would unfold over her will, came up with a cunning plan. She inserted a clause that said any beneficiary who tried to grab more than their fair share would get nothing. Smart move. Despite her love for travel and a glamorous jet setting lifestyle, that fame came with a major headache. A relative spilled a beans that she could barely stay in one spot for a couple of days before the word got out, putting her at risk of kidnapping. One of the more notorious attempts to cash in came from Shandandy Hefner. Remember her? The adult daughter Doris had adopted and then cut out of her will. So yeah, she tried to stake a claim for $65 million, but ended up settling out of court. I can't help but wonder what kind of deal went down there. Like why? How they ended up keeping her silent and the audacity? $65 million. Seriously, you are a grown woman that got adopted by their I I just can't. Duke University also jumped in as well, claiming they deserve more than the $10 million left in her will. Can you imagine? Despite her warning that anyone who disputed it would get nothing. The legal battles dragged on for nearly 3 years with 40 lawyers from 10 different firms tangled up in the mess. Eventually, the New York courts kicked Laughafer to the curb for using estate funds to support himself. While US trust got a slap on the wrist for not stopping him. The Manhattan surrogate court decided to ignore Doris's will and brought in new trustees from those who challenged it. The fees racked up to over 10 million, all charged to Doris's estate. Now, those trustees are running the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which Doris had intended to support everything from medical research to animal welfare and the arts. What a wild story, right? And it's stories like this that make me always grateful that I'm not super rich cuz yeah, these people go through it. I haven't done not one story on like a billionaire yet where I'm like envious or you know oh my goodness I wish this was me. That's just interesting to me. I couldn't imagine not being able to freely travel just thinking people are going to kidnap you for money you know and then also everyone fighting for her money like that. Even a university Duke University felt like no we should get more than 10 million. Can you imagine? And no one is in your life because they love you. The men that come to you or, you know, I guess cuz I just did a video on Oprah, you know, a little scandalous, but I guess I agree with Oprah on not getting married. I'll say that cuz if you're that rich, I wouldn't trust no matter how much you declare your love for me and really is nice to me. I would never marry you either. I would never marry you and probably would never keep you in my will. Because this is interesting how a lot of men were coming off of up off of these women. All these Harrises that had money, there was always male gold diggers. So, it goes to show you that male gold diggers are a thing. It's not just women. And they're worse than women. Actually, they're worse than women, which is interesting. Gold digging is gold digging no matter the gender. Okay? People just get really weird with money. Greed makes people do a lot of things. And unfortunately, I wouldn't say if she got away with murder or not, but the circumstances around the case is interesting. Comment below your theories. Do you think she got away with murder, or was it just an accident? What are your thoughts? And how do you feel about these rich people always getting the key to the city and buying buildings and their charitable works? Every time they're doing some guilty things behind the scenes, they always seem to be so charitable. How do you guys feel about that? It's something I think I want to do a video on, but maybe on my Mental Gyms channel because it's really a pattern. Anytime I start to see a celebrity, a political figure, like a public figure that has really a lot of money start to do a lot of charity work, I'm always like, "Let me look deep into it." And then when I look deep into it, it's never really pretty. It's never really pretty the why or what's behind it. Comment below your thoughts. I love you guys so much. Thank you for tuning in. And I will see you guys in the next