Alexander Hughes

American child from a noted family, the only child of Mark Reynolds Hughes, founder of Herbalife International and Suzan Schroder-Hughes, a former actress. His father died unexpectedly at age 44 on May 21, 2000 in his Malibu, CA home after an alcohol overdose reacted with an anti-depressant he was taking, per coroner’s report. The sole beneficiary of the estate is a trust, whose assets are controlled by three trustees, one of which is Alex’s paternal grandfather, Jack Reynolds. As primary heir to the trust, Alex has since been at the center of a lengthy and contentious probate battle in the Los Angeles County Superior Court brought by his mother against the trustees of the Hughes Family Trust. Suzan was the third of Mark Hughes’ four wives, married to him from 1987 to 1998. His first wife was Kathyrn Whiting, the second, Angela Mack and the fourth, Darcy La Pier (married to him about 15 months at the time of his death). According to a Los Angeles Times article dated September 13, 2005, Alex stands to inherit a vast fortune from the trust, mostly between the ages of 25 and 35, a sum valued today at around $400 million. Suzan Hughes and her attorney, Hillel Chodos, wanted the court to oust the current trustees. They claimed the trustees were self-serving, dictatorial and suspected them of misappropriating funds. The trustees purportedly paid themselves at least $5 million dollars in extra fees and over $11 million dollars in fees to over 15 law firms. Suzan contended they were squandering the fortune and that there might be little left when Alex turns 18. The attorneys for the trust, on the other hand, claimed in court papers that Suzan’s lawsuit is what has necessitated millions to be spent for their fees as well as attorney fees and that she was just waging a “personal vendetta” against the trust administrators because she never was happy with a divorce settlement of $10,000 per month. Mark Hughes had primary custody of his son before he died. The trustees unsuccessfully attempted to have Suzan removed as Alex’s new legal guardian. Attorneys for the trust estimated Suzan’s personal net worth was in excess of $10 million dollars, not including approximately $600,000 in annual income from the divorce settlement plus trust payments for Alex’s needs. Suzan implied in court papers that “her wealth falls short of what she believed she was entitled to” and that Alex was able to “live in a more lavish lifestyle” when his father was alive. In court papers the trustee attorneys portray Suzan as a money-grubbing outsider bent on stealing her child’s wealth. Suzan’s initial lawsuit did not prevail, however, so she has appealed on other grounds. Meanwhile, the fourth wife, Darcy La Pier, reportedly received a $34 million dollar settlement from the trust. Suzan says she tries not to spoil Alex too much and wants him to learn the value of a dollar. She is not over-generous with his spending money and when it comes to clothes, high price tags and designer labels are a secondary consideration to “what looks good on him.” Attorneys from both sides of the lawsuit agree that Alex is a normal, well-adjusted boy. Alex attends an exclusive college-prep school for grades 7-12 in West Los Angeles called Windward School.