James Howard Marshall III (born February 6, 1936) is president and owner of MDH Industries, an electronics company based in

Monrovia, California Monrovia is a city in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 37,931 at the 2020 census. Monrovia has been used for filming TV shows, movies and co ...

. He is the eldest son of J. Howard Marshall II, who owned 16% of

Koch Industries Koch Industries, Inc. ( ) is an American privately held multinational conglomerate corporation based in Wichita, Kansas and is the second-largest privately held company in the United States, after Cargill. Its subsidiaries are involved in the ...

Conflict with his father

At his wedding in 1974, Marshall III and his brother, E. Pierce Marshall, were each given shares representing a 4% stake in

by their father, J. Howard Marshall II, who said "these are the crown jewels, take care of them." In 1980, the 4 sons of Fred C. Koch fought over control of Koch Industries, founded by their father. Marshall III sided with Bill Koch and Frederick R. Koch, while J. Howard Marshall II and E. Pierce Marshall sided with

Charles Koch Charles de Ganahl Koch ( ; born November 1, 1935) is an American billionaire businessman. As of November 2022, he was ranked as the 13th richest person in the world on ''Bloomberg Billionaires Index'', with an estimated net worth of $66 billio ...

and

David Koch David Hamilton Koch ( ; May 3, 1940 – August 23, 2019) was an American businessman, political activist, philanthropist, and chemical engineer. In 1970, he joined the family business: Koch Industries, the second largest privately held c ...

. Charles and David got control of the company in 1983. Marshall II then demanded that Marshall III return the 4% interest in Koch Industries that was gifted to him. Marshall III forced his father to pay $8 million for the shares. Even though the shares are worth billions today, at the time, his father thought the price was exorbitant and cut Marshall III out of his

will and testament A will or testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property ( estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person ( executor) is to manage the property until its final distributi ...

, saying the $8 million was "all he'd get". After his father died in 1995, Marshall III sued his father's estate, as well as his brother, sister in-law, and nephew for an

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officia ...

. He also sued Koch Industries and Charles and David Koch, accusing them of conspiring with his brother, E. Pierce Marshall, to influence his father and cheat him of his inheritance. In March 2001, a Texas probate jury found that J. Howard's will and trust were valid and had not been executed under fraud or malice, Pierce had not committed any wrongdoing, and that Marshall III and his father's widow, Anna Nicole Smith, were not entitled to any part of his estate. Further, the jury found Marshall III had committed fraud with

actual malice Actual malice in United States law is a legal requirement imposed upon public officials or public figures when they file suit for libel (defamatory printed communications). Compared to other individuals who are less well known to the general pub ...

for filing the lawsuit and forced Marshall III to pay his brother $35 million plus legal fees at a time when Marshall III claimed his net worth was $26 million. Even though the award was reduced to $11 million plus legal fees, Marshall III filed bankruptcy on July 11, 2002.

In popular culture

J. Howard Marshall III played himself in ''The Life and Death of Anna Nicole'', a TV movie documentary released in 2007, and was featured in a 2001 episode of

E! True Hollywood Story ''E! True Hollywood Story'' is an American television documentary series on E! that pulls back the curtain and highlights some of pop culture's most fascinating people, moments and trends. The series offers exclusive interviews with new insigh ...

References

External links

J. Howard Marshall II, ''Done in Oil: An Autobiography of J. Howard Marshall II''

Texas A&M University Press Texas A&M University Press (also known informally as TAMU Press) is a scholarly publishing house associated with Texas A&M University. It was founded in 1974 and is located in College Station, Texas, in the United States. Overview The Texas A& ...

, 1994. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, J. Howard III 1936 births American energy industry businesspeople Businesspeople from San Francisco Living people Marshall family