Wealth Nugget:He and his wife Anne have donated $50 million to Duke and $50 million to Stanford. His name was Glenn McCarthy. A billionaire with questionable priorities re-examines his life after discovering his grandfather's journal. No surprise there. "The Ultimate Life" Movie Review - Jesusfreakhideout.com Excerpted fromThe Big Rich: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes,by Bryan Burrough, to be published in January 2009 by Penguin Press. As good as he was at drilling, McCarthy, whose own father had grown poor working on other mens wells, knew he could never become wealthy unless he worked for himself. Its executives had opened their first oil lending office in Dallas just weeks before, in May 1945. City: Houston. Before his death, billionaire "Red" Stevens videotapes his last will and testament. Up and down Fifth Avenue, scores of New York lenders, keenly aware of the massive loans Sid Richardson and Clint Murchison had taken, were flocking to find oilmen of their own to fund. Equitables board arm-twisted McCarthy into downsizing the Shamrock project, eliminating the apartment buildings, the shopping center, the grocery, the drugstore, and the theater, leaving only the hotel, which was fine by McCarthy. She had been famous since the mid-1920s, when one of her early novels, So Big, won the Pulitzer Prize. Of course, Walmart heiress Alice Walton reached the tippy top of Texas financial titans. When Metropolitan ordered a new estimate of McCarthys oil and gas reserves, it was stunned to find they were down by almost two-thirds in several key fields. In June, McCarthy engaged a 26-year-old Hollywood producer in a wild early-morning mle inside the Cork Club. Chaos ensued. speakers hail shamrock as symbol of new era, blared a headline in the Chronicle, which termed the project perhaps the greatest ever undertaken by an individual in Texas. The Post coverage swallowed the entire front page. Quietly, so quietly no one noticed, the McCarthys moved into a modest house in the suburb of La Porte. Jason and Alexia have champagne with a special meal. The Ultimate Gift - Living Scriptures Reality TV Star, Billionaire Wildcatter Uncovered In West - Forbes Wealth Nugget:He and this three older siblings inherited a stake in their father Dan Duncans pipeline firm, Enterprise. By 1945 he was a very wealthy man, his oil reserves worth $50 million, about $535 million today. Wells had been completed and put on McCarthys books when it was doubtful they would ever produce commercial amounts of oil or gas. In their place came a look equal parts Houston and Hollywood: dark sunglasses, leopard-patterned ascots, gleaming leather jackets, a diamond the size of a dime on his pinkie. They say everything is bigger in Texas. He strongly resents his grandfather because his father had died while working for him. She remained the wealthiest person in Fort Worth and the entire state, and ranks as the 12thrichest person in the entire country. Lamour, now joined by Van Heflin and a comic named Ed Gardner, tried to get the crowds attention, but it was no use. "[7] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". You can rule out Iran and Saudi Arabia, his P.R. 179 (tie). Caitlin, knowing that he has regained his wealth, makes an attempt to win him back, but Jason declines her offer. The dinner service was a comedy as waiters weaved through the crowd. The 50 richest people in the world. At that point, Mendel wrote the board that McCarthy had outlived his usefulness. Everyone issued upbeat statements to the press, and the Houston newspapers, backing McCarthy to the end, ran stories emphasizing his tenuous chance at regaining ownership. Hundreds of tuxedoed men and fur-clad women began to push their way into the Emerald Room, knocking over chairs and a table or two. Inside Aspen's 'Billionaire Mountain,' Where the Rich and Famous Live Hunt headed on, thinking the man was taking a picture of the building behind him. He had no choice. Here's today's dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. Bolivia had no pipelines and thus no way to transport the gas. But, Red has planned for his death carefully. Through it all, McCarthys finances continued to deteriorate. Texas, she once explained, was constantly leaping out at one from the pages of books, plays, magazines, newspapers. Entrepreneur-turned-actor Drew Waters is living his own "Ultimate Life" McCarthy insisted he couldnt pay unless allowed to develop New Ulm. Derek Stevens co-owner of the D Las Vegas and Golden Gate isn't afraid to bet big. In effect, Mendel became McCarthys new boss. 1, and a week later it came in strong, the first well of what became known as the West Beaumont field. McCarthy fired the dancing girls. Jim Stovall -- Motivational Speaker, Author, Movie Producer Waiters gave up trying to wade into the crowd. A tight first half . Jason learns from his guide that the story he had always believed about his father's death was a lie, fabricated by his grandfather out of guilt and shame for trying to push Jason's father into the oil business. It was ridiculous. A reporter for Time magazine wrote that the party combined the most exciting features of a subway rush, Halloween in a madhouse and a circus fire. The *Chronicle*s society editor described it as bedlam in diamonds., Bedlam it was, but many regarded the Shamrocks gaudy, chaotic, diamond-strewn opening as an apt metaphor for the new Texas. Probably the best-known female novelist of midcentury America, Ferber was a creature of effete New York literary salons, a witty, headstrong member of the Algonquin Round Table, and a lesbian, all of which made her an improbable chronicler of muscular, nouveau riche Texas. By Dmitri Kessel/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images. But when he discovers his late grandfather's journal, he is transported back to Red Stevens' incredible world. Jason and Alexias love has deepened following Emilys tragic death. He was doing more harm than good at the hotel, and Mendel couldnt see anyone buying McCarthys oil propertieswhich appeared to be the only way Equitable could ever recoup its investmentif it meant dealing with McCarthy. Kissing, mainly, and most of it linked to matrimony. By 1930, though nominally still enrolled at Rice, he was pumping gas at a Houston service station. His brother clung to Glenns waist and the third man to his leg. He enjoyed nothing so much as racing around his land in one of his luxury cars, a bottle of bourbon at his side, slowing down just long enough to blast his shotgun at a rattlesnake or dove. A few days later reporters trailed McCarthy to Paris, where he was staying at the Hotel George V with Howard Hughess onetime P.R. The aging lawyer suggests that perhaps a clue about how to respond could be found in his grandfathers journal. Richest Billionaires in Colorado | Stacker No one around Houston seriously believed McCarthy could go under. No other Texas oilman ever rose so high or fell so hard. Youre my fortune, Alexia. Red Stevens (James Garner) is a crusty, old billionaire who dies suddenly in an air crash. shamrock puts eyes of nation on houston, read the Chronicle headline. He was laying out $3,000 a year for a golf pronever mind that he didnt have a courseplus a half-million a year for a promotional magazine named Preview, which McCarthy labeled a cowpuncher alternative to The New Yorker. Lender and borrower arrived at a face-off: Equitable insisted it wouldnt lend McCarthy another dime until he paid what he owed; he was already giving Equitable half his income. No one outside the oil business had heard of Glenn McCarthy. Come on. After a half-hour NBC ended the broadcast. He worked 20 hours a day, and kept the store open the other 4 by hiring his father. Whether they sprang from his hardscrabble beginnings, a desire to eclipse his father-in-law, or something else altogether, McCarthy burned to rise above the Hunts and Cullens and Richardsons atop the Texas pyramid, to own titanic refineries and office towers and continent-spanning pipelines. Weve all been on the road with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope but never through anything like this, she snapped. Wealth Nugget:Hes an avid art collector and owns paintings by Renoir, Matisse, Picasso and Norman Rockwells Coin Toss.. With that kind of collateral, Equitables board felt secure pushing mounds of cash at McCarthy, loan after loan after loan, eventually reaching a total of $51.8 million. Afterward, Lee married Gene Tierney. Doctors wheeled him out of surgery at St. Lukes Episcopal Hospital, and Faustine placed him in a nursing home. When his rich grandfather, Howard "Red" Stevens, dies, Jason does not expect to inherit anything from his multi-billion-dollar estate. Americas third-largest insurer, Equitable was late to the oil game but determined to catch up. Joe Millionaire bachelor Steven McBee must choose between Annie and Calah in the season finale. Every time a barrel of foreign oil comes in America, a barrel less is produced in Texas, he groused. US and China are on the brink of war and red lines will be crossed Its a sacrificial, other-centered gift that begins the process of reversing Reds self-centered trajectory. In February 1946 a petroleum geologist it had hired valued McCarthys oil and gas reserves at $45 million. In 1972, McCarthy sold his mansion, the one he and his wife, Faustine, had built in 1937, to a developer, who swiftly demolished it and put up apartments. I simply didnt have the energy or the patience to keep up with him, especially when we went out to parties that lasted two or three days, Miller wrote in her autobiography. At the last minute McCarthy delayed his appearance and told the network to cancel the first part of the broadcast. He moved his offices into the Shell building, taking up the entire sixth floor, and hired a public-relations man, a Houston radio veteran named Fred Nahas; if McCarthy so much as burped, Nahas made sure it got into the papers. a tough, but fair man a multi-billionaire one of the best men that Theodore J. Hamilton ever knew he put stipulations on who his money should go to he gave no one cash for their inheritance he wanted Jason to learn some things and prove that he had learned them before he put him in charge of his foundation September brought the strangest fracas to date. Under the photo of Hunt, it read: is this the richest man in the u.s.? Mendel moved to Houston, overseeing McCarthy Oil & Gas from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day and running the hotel until 11 every night. Acquisitions and Divestitures News (A&D), The Oil & Gas Conference 2021 Replays Premium Subscribers, Enercom Dallas 2021 Replays Premium Subscribers, The Energy Venture Investment Summit 2022 Replays Premium Subscribers, The Energy Venture Investment Summit 2021 Replays Premium Subscribers, Netherland Sewell to host Oil & Gas Property Evaluation Seminar in Dallas, Texas on May 1-2, 2023, Exclusive: Tamarack Valley Energy at EnerCom Dallas-The Energy Investment & ESG Conference, Exclusive: Granite Ridge Resources at EnerCom Dallas-The Energy Investment & ESG Conference, Southwestern Energy announces first quarter 2023 results, Sage completes natural gas drilling program in Barnett shale, U.S. rig count had an increase of 2 this week, at 755, The Definitive Ranking of the Wealthiest Americans. The Ultimate Life is the unsought follow-up to The Ultimate Gift, the 2007 film adaptation of Jim Stovalls sermon as novel. Some of his waiters tried to shout at people to take their seats, but no one moved. For the bulk of his wealth, Mr. Stephens can credit his 34% stake in Endeavor Energy Resources LP, an oil and gas exploration and production company that Forbes values at more than $3 billion. Bryan Burrough is a Vanity Fair special correspondent. Source of wealth: Hair care products, tequila. Every appearance and every press release generated headlines, and headlines, McCarthy knew in his heart, would be the key to the Shamrocks success. Its well-intended workaholism that drives a wedge in between Jason and Alexia. He had a notary standing by to prove it. That day at 4:30, 3,000 people crowded the 15-acre building site to watch McCarthy, OBrien, and a host of Texas dignitaries, including two former governors, give speeches from a flag-decked platform. But he was damned if he was going to be a glorified greeter at his own hotel. McCarthy himself, like a latter-day Butch Cassidy, disappeared into the wilds of Bolivia, vowing to return with a second fortune. Engineers spent months tinkering with equipment, but could never figure out why. Had McCarthy stopped there, he might have been recognized as a fifth member of the Big Four, lazing away his days playing cards like Sid Richardson, or sniping at politicians like Hugh Roy Cullen. However, Jason accidentally discovers that Emily is suffering from leukemia, and sees a chance to develop a strong bond with someone. But its mainly about Reds rags-to-riches story, told through flashbacks as Jason reads his grandfathers journal for guidance. Sid Richardson ambled in with his niece; only Howard Hughes failed to appear. There had been considerable speculation surrounding the menu, given the $42-a-plate price tag, which one writer labeled astronomical. Dinner turned out to be beef and a fruit cocktail called pineapple surprise. Some guests managed to take delivery of their food; others, notably the matron who received a pineapple surprise splashed onto her bare back, wished they hadnt. Cameron, however, was a serial philanderer, and Miller left him several months later upon finding him engaged in an impromptu pool party with 17 young ladies in bikinis. Wealth Nugget:In 2015, he rewarded every one of his 1,400 employees with a $100,000 bonus for doubling the size of the company in five years. Atari games from the 1980s. McCarthy had met her once or twice and forgotten about it. After seven minutes NBC took the show off the air, citing technical difficulties. As his friend hovers near death, Red volunteers to donate a kidney to save him. man whispered. All the men wore tuxedos, the women were in backless dresses with chiffon and taffeta trains and mink after mink after mink, diamonds dripping from every neck. The Ultimate Life opens three years later, with Jason (Logan Bartholomew) trying to manage his grandfathers foundation, beat back a lawsuit by greedy relatives and save his relationship with Alexia, the nurse he met in the first film. Let Michener write it, she told a friend. He mailed gold-filigreed invitations to every movie star and C.E.O. The Texans came pouring in as well, the governor and a string of politicians, oilmen, bankers, and Amon Carter with a delegation from Fort Worth. The starlet Jane Withers wed an Odessa oilman and would-be producer named Bill Moss in 1947; after their divorce, Moss married Ann Miller. McCarthy laughed off the questions, but signs of distress were evident. Giant is the story of an oil-and-ranching family clearly modeled on the Kleberg clan, who ran (and still run today) the vast King Ranch. Another of his tasks requires him to travel to Ecuador and study in a library his father and grandfather built to help the people there. Travie McCoy, Bruno Mars - Billionaire (Lyrics) - YouTube The stereotype of the raw, hard-living, bourbon-swilling, fistfighting, cash-tossing, damn-the-torpedoes Texas oil millionaire did not exist before Glenn McCarthy rocketed into the national imagination in the late 1940s. Wealth Nugget:She was born in Bangkok, grew up in South Korea and moved to the United States for high school. Forbes 400: The Richest People In Texas, 2017 In 1939 he took everything he had and plunged into a risky play around the town of Palacios, on the Gulf Coast southwest of Houston. During World War II, Red is knocked down and wounded by a mortar. A Shamrock postcard. Youve still got time, Red., Red changes his ways and apologizes to his children for having neglected them. By January 1949, with the hotels opening only three months away, construction on the Shamrock was almost finished; it had cost $21 million. Pat OBrien! Nothing worked. There were too many people. All through the war years, with little fanfare, he opened new fields, extended old ones, and fattened his accounts. Movieguide reviews the family drama THE ULTIMATE LIFE In short order, books began to appear: The Lusty Texans of Dallas in 1951, Houston: Land of the Big Rich the same year, followed by a series of Texas primers such as The Super-Americans, by *The New Yorker*s John Bainbridge. Workers lowered the giant portrait of McCarthy in the lobby and replaced it with one of Conrad Hilton. Im a little bit choked up, McCarthy said after several speakers praised his vision. Wealth Nugget:He is teaming up with architect Norman Foster on a Dallas skyscraper. Lifes greatest fortunes are the ones closest to you. When he finally achieves that dream, a conversation with Hamilton provides a telling moment of clarity. Cullen got the only Times headline, when he announced the formation of his $160 million Cullen Foundation, at the time the single largest gift ever made by a living American. There was a war on. They would go live with Dorothy Lamour when she took the stage at 8:30. In time the man, impressed with McCarthys tenacity, agreed, but the deal was harsh: Sinclair would take almost all profits from gasoline sales. Still, just about everyone in Dallasand around the countrywas floored by the headline in the April 5, 1948, issue of Life. CHRISTOPHER STEVENS: This hour-long compilation of rarely seen clips, Charles R: The Making Of A Monarch includes snatches from the fabled documentary entitled Royal Family. McCarthys legend, in fact, continued to grow. Why Drew Waters can so relate to his role as Red Stevens. Accuses Texas Financial Firm of $8 Billion Fraud", "U.S. charges Stanford with massive Ponzi scheme", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Ultimate_Gift&oldid=1145147449, This page was last edited on 17 March 2023, at 14:40. For a long time the only indication he was even alive came in the odd stories that floated up from South America every few months, none of which, as with the case of an Ecuadoran doctor he attacked in a drunken rage on a flight to La Paz, suggested Glenn McCarthy was going gentle into that night. We hear that Hamilton has been in a terrible car accident. A scant three years after its celebrated opening, the Shamrock was no longer Glenn McCarthys. (United States). Wealth Nugget:He founded the Bonderman Travel Fellowship at the University of Washington to sponsor fellows to travel to at least six countries in eight months. Drayton McLane Jr. The incident led to a set of nasty headlines and a lawsuit in which Rummans claimed that McCarthy had held him hostage at the hotel for two days. The plan was to announce OBriens appearance at 7:45 over the hotels public-address system, at which point the crowd would file to their tables in the ballrooms. I like it here, one was heard muttering. Alexia and Jason share a couple of intense lip-locks, one of which is shared at the altar. That night, Jason is seen sitting on a bench in the park, when Alexia joins him. On January 18, an updated analysis of McCarthys overall reserves reached Equitables board. No one could hear them. What Jason doesnt know is that absent such a proposal, Alexia has increasingly felt convicted to put her nursing skills to work in Haiti. ". All told, McCarthy had tried three wells and had precisely nothing to show for itexcept a painful education in oil. Out of cash and determined not to borrow from Faustines father, he decided to try his luck as a contractor, drilling wells for others. McCarthy and Lamour caucused and decided to begin the broadcast anyway, with or without an audience in the Emerald Room. Jason Stevens tries to balance life as a billionaire and his relationship with his girlfriend Alexia. Night approached. Off in the corners, McCarthys security men exchanged nervous glances. After the groundbreaking for Emily's Home, Jason is recalled to the law firm for one more meeting and told he has exceeded the expectations of his dead grandfather, and he is given the final gift of $2-billion dollars, rewarding Jason not only for his completing the tasks, but for using the $100-million to help others. Wealth Nugget:His film production studio producedAll The Money in The World. Published Mar 10, 2022. Glenn not only held himself and the two others securely, Mr. Anderson said, sputtering, he then maneuvered the lowering of all three to the ground. McCarthy had suffered friction burns on both hands, sliding down the derrick to safety. The two were hustled into a limousine. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Young Reds decision to hitch a ride in an empty train car, hobo-style, was (and is) illegal. Your fortune is your wife, your kids and all the little Stevens who might come along. The Ultimate Gift - Plot - LiquiSearch At the film's climax, "Something Changed" is highlighted, a song composed by Contemporary Christian Music-singer Sara Groves. At 11 oclock, with the motor still dead, McCarthy hollered, All right, boys, were gonna start drilling this son-of-a-bitch by hand. At 11:45, McCarthy used a pair of chain tongs to inch the drill bit into the mud. There are the occasional outliers computers and hair products, anyone? Up in the penthouse a bagpiper serenaded the last visitors as they took the elevators down after midnight. It was no use. Sign up to receive free Oil & Gas 360 Newsletters. Following an accident, Red has a Christmastime epiphany and rethinks his values. system didnt work. He offered to drill wells for next to nothing, and a few wildcatters, no doubt mindful who his father-in-law was, gave him a chance. The evening was a coming-out party not just for McCarthy but for Texas Oil itself. He lauded its "tight and often compelling" screenplay, sparkling dialogue and "first-rate" production values. He would be King of Texas. Not just any hotel: the worlds finest hotel, built for the new Texas, a mammoth, ornate structure to surpass the Waldorf-Astorias and Ritzes and Hiltons, the largest building between New York and Los Angeles, a glorious symbol not just of his own mushrooming power and confidence but of Texass as well. He is also author of The Ultimate Life and The Ultimate Journey, which have inspired another major motion picture to be released September 2013. McCarthy optioned 562 parcels in and around the town, then borrowed heavily to buy five new drilling rigs, which cost $1 million. But the big event, the announcement that introduced much of Houston to the McCarthy whirlwind, was the hotels groundbreaking. There was no mistaking that McCarthy, however, was the model for the tempestuous wildcatter Jett Rink, who sprang from the pages of the book Ferber decided to call Giant. His life changed one night that spring when a girl he knew stopped for gas and brought along a pretty 16-year-old named Faustine Lee, daughter of the wealthy oilman Thomas Lee. So frenetic were McCarthys preparations that year, and so effective Nahas at publicizing them, it sometimes seemed McCarthy was the only oilman in Houston in 1946. he could think of, then invited dignitaries from 24 foreign countries. Wealth Nugget:He raises longhorn cattle in deep South Texas. The sole job McCarthy knew was pumping gas, so he set his sights on opening his own station. It had been coming for years. In addition, then Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina Pat McCrory has a cameo appearance as himself, while Jim Stovall, the author of the book the film is based on, has a cameo as the limo driver near the end of the film. Months of secret meetings culminated in an agreement signed January 15, 1951, in which McCarthy reluctantly ceded Equitable complete control for 10 years over all his oil fields, the Shamrock, and just about everything else he owned. Neither ever spoke meaningfully about their meeting. McCarthy fumed and waited for one to be built. But lately John P. Stevens has been making news as an incubator for blue-chip business leaders. As I began to question his story, McCarthy walked up, stoic, unexcited and austere. Wealth Nugget:He launched Titos Vodka 1997 with $90,000 using 19 different credit cards. Frank Lloyd Wright, attending a convention in Houston that week, took the tour, and emerged in a daze. Wealth Nugget:: He founded Trilogy Software. Working in Texas, he gains an early mentor in a ranch owner (Peter Fonda in a skillful cameo). And its through reading Reds cautionary tale (which dives into the perils of such overwork) that Jason rectifies his mistake. The Ultimate Gift is a 2006 American drama film directed by Michael O. Sajbel from a screenplay written by Cheryl McKay, which is based on the best selling novel by Jim Stovall, who cameos in the film. Undaunted, McCarthy invested his last thousand dollars in a friends well. When he began slashing costs, McCarthy resisted. Despite his best intentions, billionaire Jason Stevens can't find enough time to keep his beloved Alexia a priority. In 2007,The Ultimate Gift introduced us to Red Stevens, a deceased Texas oilman whose last wish was to bequeath his multibillion-dollar trust fund to an heir who wouldnt squander itsomeone who would prove a worthy, noble steward of that massive inheritance. It carried an early mention of the term that would come to define the Big Four and their brethren: the Big Rich. When the Chronicle reported curbside gossip that he was on the threshold of the poorhouse, McCarthy flatly lied, claiming all his operations, including the Shamrock and the moldering chemical plant, were running at a profit. Girls squealed when Dorothy Lamour emerged and kissed McCarthy on the cheek. With his inheritance, Jason chooses to build a hospital, called Emily's Home, for children with terminal illnesses, but before the building begins, Emily dies. Mendel wanted to foreclose, but before doing so he made McCarthy one final offer. An oilman going bankrupt in Texas? Red Stevens Bechir Sylvain Young Hamilton Elizabeth Ann Bennett Hanna Stevens Dane Northcutt Gus Caldwell J.R. Adduci Roughneck (as James 'JR' Adduci) Joshua Brady Jay Stevens Linda Britt Executive Secretary David Carpenter Farmer Christian Casper Maitre'd Tyler Chase Prepster Director Michael Landon Jr. Far worse, he told Equitable executives he would need to delay his next two debt payments to them as well. Upon completing his twelve tasks, Jason is given a sum of $100-million to do with whatever he pleases, and all of his property is returned to him. Behind closed doors, executives at Equitable and Metropolitan Life pondered whether to foreclose. McCarthy told him not to worry. The Dallas-Fort Worth region leads the way, placing a whopping 18 billionaires on theForbes400. It proved to be exactly the media event McCarthy yearned for, drawing coverage around the world; Life ran a five-page photo spread. It would be the Lone Star Taj Mahal, its Eiffel Tower, its London Bridge. The Walmart heiress Ann Walton Kroenke and Jeff Bezos' parents have houses there.. McCarthy withdrew to his mansion, beaten. In 2017 and 2018, he bet $11,000 on each of the 32 games in the first round of the NCAA Men's March Madness. Wealth Nugget:He turned his familys grocery distribution company McLane Co. into an international firm before selling it to Walmart. Jason does get around to at least trying to pop the question, but at the very moment of emotional impact, hes served legal notice that his role as the head of the Stevens Foundation is being challenged by one of Reds sons, Billy, whom the old oilman didnt deem a fit heir.