Remember Howard Hughes

Remember Howard Hughes? Tony Hsieh Estate Battle Is Just as Strange- Tony Hsieh, founder of Zappos and other tech companies, died at age 46 in a tragic fire after years of battling drug abuse. His fortune was estimated in the hundreds of millions, and there was no will, or so it seemed. A recent article from The Wall Street Journal, “Forensics Take Center State in the Mystery Will of Tony Hsieh,” follows this epic estate battle, which began last March when a typed will consisting of seven pages was sent to the Las Vegas courthouse.

Copies of the same will were also sent to the offices of a trust attorney in Las Vegas, followed by a phone call from a man claiming to have found the will in his late grandfather’s belongings. The attorney had never met Hsieh, yet he was named a co-executor for the estate. Then another document appeared: the death certificate of the grandfather, a resident of Pakistan. After a year, the court approved the forensic testing of the will, which began in early June.

This strange series of events is reminiscent of another odd will from some 50 years ago involving another Las Vegas entrepreneur who is remembered more for his personal oddities than his many significant accomplishments, Howard Hughes.

Roughly 40 wills were discovered after Hughes’s death, and hundreds of people came forward to claim some of his fortune. Three weeks after his death, a handwritten document claiming to be his will appeared at the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City.

Hughes was a reclusive billionaire. While he was never a member of the church, he had employed many of its members and had close ties with some. The purported will divided an estimated $2.5 billion estate among a few medical, educational, and social groups, family members, employees and the church.

There was one oddity: one sixteenth of the estate — $156 million—was left to Melvin Dummar, a gas station operator who said he had found Hughes on a deserted road outside of Las Vegas and given him a ride back to the city. He later said he had lied about the will and that he was the one who brought it to the church’s offices.

Remember Howard Hughes? Tony Hsieh Estate Battle Is Just as Strange

The judge in Las Vegas has already made numerous comparisons between the Hsieh and Hughes wills.

There’s a lot at stake, with the estate valued at an estimated $500 million. The Hsieh will includes a “no contest” clause seemingly directed at Hsieh’s parents and two younger brothers. If only one of them challenges the will, none of them will receive an inheritance. The Hsieh family declared the will a scam and asked the courts to invalidate it. In May, the court appointed a special master to oversee forensic testing. The family has hired their own forensic experts.

Just as strange is that, while these proceedings have been going on, none of the witnesses who allegedly signed the document have come forward in court, and the man who allegedly sent the mysterious will and called the law firm's offices has disappeared.

Estate battles of this size offer a key lesson for “regular” people. Regardless of the value of your estate, having a will created by an estate planning attorney, keeping it up to date and telling family members of its existence and where they may find it is a gift to those you love.

Schedule your phone consultation: THE LAW OFFICES OF CLAUDE S. SMITH, III

Remember Howard Hughes? Tony Hsieh Estate Battle Is Just as Strange

Reference: The Wall Street Journal (June 29, 2026) “Forensics Take Center State in the Mystery Will of Tony Hsieh”