Daily Archives: October 31, 2008

For parts I, II, III, and IV, see Henry J. Kaiser, Entrereneur, Henry J. Kaiser: The War Years, Henry J. Kaiser, Industrialist, and Henry J. Kaiser, Hawaiian Booster.

Henry Kaiser created an empire worth tens of billions of dollars and earned a personal fortune of $2.5 billion. Yet he is almost forgotten today. On his death, he divided his fortune between his second wife, Ale, and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, which was created to support the Kaiser medical program. His son, Edgar, received nothing because he was “otherwise cared for.”

Edgar replaced his father as chairman of the various Kaiser companies. But his personal investments in these companies was small, which may be why he was unable to keep the companies going. Edgar probably had a net worth of about $50 million, which is insignificant compared with Henry’s worth.

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