Discover The Secret Lives Of The World's Most Reclusive Multimillionaires

Publicity-shy millionaires and billionaires

Although the very wealthy will often court publicity and wholeheartedly embrace fame, others will go to extreme lengths to keep their distance from the media and avoid the public gaze, retreating from the world to live in their own very private bubble. 

Read on to learn the stories of the most reclusive multimillionaires and billionaires of all time, from the hermit-like Howard Hughes to IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad. All dollar values in US dollars.

Daniel Ludwig

The richest person you've never heard of, Daniel Ludwig was born in Michigan in 1897 and made a colossal fortune during the middle and latter part of the 20th century in shipping and other industries, spearheading everything from the development of supertankers in Japan to plantations in Panama.

Daniel Ludwig

Exceptionally secretive, Ludwig only ever agreed to one interview, which he granted to Fortune magazine journalist Dero Saunders in 1957. Thereafter, the mysterious magnate, who was as frugal as he was reclusive, kept his lips firmly shut and avoided the press like the plague.

Daniel Ludwig

By 1978, Ludwig was estimated to be worth around $12 billion in today's money, making him America's richest person, yet he remained almost unknown in the US. The invisible tycoon lived in a large apartment in Midtown Manhattan but even his closest neighbors had no idea who he was. Ludwig died at home at the age of 95 in 1992. Forbes estimated his wealth to be $1.2 billion at this time, the equivalent of $2.2 billion in today's money.

Howard Hughes

Often dubbed 'the archetypal super-rich hermit', American businessman Howard Hughes first made his money as a movie producer in the 1920s and 30s, working on films such as Scarface (1932). Hughes went on to make money as a property mogul, pioneering aviator and philanthropist, and in the process amassed enormous wealth, equivalent to $9 billion in today's money. He also garnered international celebrity status from the 1920s onwards, and he enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle and was something of a playboy in his younger days.

Howard Hughes

By the mid-1960s, however, the eccentric tycoon, who suffered from severe obsessive-compulsive disorder and chronic pain, had become increasingly reclusive. In fact, in the late 1960s Hughes spent a full two years holed up in a Las Vegas hotel suite with the curtains permanently closed.

Howard Hughes

From there on in Hughes moved from hotel to hotel where he would watch the same movies over and over again and was seldom seen by anyone. By the time of his death in 1976, the genius entrepreneur was emaciated and unkempt with long beard and nails, the vision of an old hermit. Hughes' grave site in Houston is pictured here.

Huguette Clark

The daughter of multimillionaire copper baron and Montana Senator William Clark, Huguette Clark was born in Paris in 1906 and grew up in New York's grandest house. She is pictured here at 11 years of age. In 1928 the heiress married a law student but the union was an unhappy one and the couple divorced just two years later.

Huguette Clark

As outlined in the New York Times' bestseller Empty Mansions by NBC reporter Bill Dedman and Clark's cousin Paul Clark Newell Jr, Clark's mental health began to deteriorate post-divorce and she spent most of her time with her mother, confined to the family's Fifth Avenue apartment or lavish country estates. Following her mother's death in 1963, Clark, who had developed intense paranoia, became even more reclusive. 

Huguette Clark

Ensconced in her Manhattan apartment, she shunned almost all contact. After developing skin cancer in 1991, the distrustful heiress spent two decades in a New York hospital room and was close to just one person, her nurse Hadassah Peri (pictured), who she showered with gifts. When she died in 2011, Clark left a much-disputed legacy of $300 million to her nurse.

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Albrecht brothers

Retail bigwigs Theo and Karl Albrecht took over their mother's humble grocery store in Essen, Germany shortly after World War II and transformed the business into the Aldi supermarket empire.

Albrecht brothers

The brothers went their separate ways business-wise in 1961 following a dispute over whether they should sell cigarettes, splitting the company into two distinct entities, Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd, but continued to maintain a personal relationship. Theo is pictured here in 1971, but not long after the photo was taken he was kidnapped and held for 17 days. After his release, the Aldi Nord boss and his brother became exceedingly security conscious with Forbes at one point describing the pair as being "more reclusive than a Yeti".

Albrecht brothers

The siblings, who had a combined peak net worth of $45.7 billion, remained acutely publicity-averse for the rest of their lives. Theo died in 2010, while Karl passed away in 2014.

Ingvar Kamprad

Born in a sleepy farming village in Sweden in 1926, Ingvar Kamprad went on to found flat-pack furniture giant IKEA in 1943 thanks to a small loan from his father. Like shipping magnate Daniel Ludwig, Kamprad was renowned for his reclusiveness and his frugal ways. 

Ingvar Kamprad

Despite his extreme wealth, which peaked at $33 billion in 2007, the IKEA founder encouraged his staff to write on both sides of pieces of paper, berated them for leaving lights on and promoted an image of cost-cutting in his private life too, choosing to drive a basic Volvo, only fly economy and stock up on free salt and pepper sachets when he was eating out.

Ingvar Kamprad

After decamping to Switzerland in 1976 to avoid Sweden's punishing tax regime, the thrifty IKEA boss lived out the rest of his days in relative seclusion. He returned to Sweden in 2014, and died in 2018, with half of his wealth going to fund development projects in the north of his home country.

Hans Rausing

Born the same year as Ingvar Kamprad, fellow Swede Hans Rausing co-inherited the Tetra Pak food packaging company, which was founded by his father Reuben in 1943, the same year Kamprad established IKEA. 

Hans Rausing

The similarities and coincidences do not end there. Like the late Ingvar Kamprad, Hans Rausing (pictured on the right), who passed away on 30 August 2019, developed an aversion to publicity and left the country of his birth to avoid tax, moving to the UK in the early 1980s.

Hans Rausing

The bashful billionaire, who was 6 feet 8 inches tall, also had a reputation for being extremely frugal and is said to have lived fairly modestly at his estate in East Sussex, England (pictured), only driving battered old cars and eschewing private planes, yachts, and glamorous parties. Just before his death in 2019, Rausing and his family were worth $12 billion.

Barclay brothers

Camera-shy and reclusive, identical twin brothers Sir David (pictured right) and Sir Frederick Barclay controlled a formidable media empire in the UK, which includes the Telegraph Group and The Spectator magazine, and own other major interests from London's Ritz Hotel (now sold) to retailer Littlewoods and delivery firm Yodel. Sir David died last January at the age of 86. At the time of his death, Forbes estimated he and his children owned 75% of the family interests, which has led to a legal battle with Sir Frederick's children.

Barclay brothers

According to Forbes, Sir David had a net worth of $3.7 billion in 2020. The families live out of the public eye between the tax havens of Monaco and Brecqhou off the Channel Island of Sark, where they have built a mock-Gothic castle. 

Barclay brothers

Ardent supporters of Brexit, the Barclays attracted criticism for their tax affairs, alleged editorial interference in the Telegraph Media Group and legal disputes with the Sark government. The private battle between the brothers' families became rather more public as details of alleged bugging of conversations were revealed in court.

Philip Anschutz

Widely regarded as America's most reclusive billionaire, Philip Anschutz has spent the past five decades building up an enviable fortune, which spans oil, property, telecoms, and entertainment. Anschutz also has an interest in sport, and he owns both the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings team and a third of basketball's Lakers team, plus the building they play in, the Staples Center.

Philip Anschutz

Currently worth a cool $10.9 billion, Anschutz has made his money without fuss or fanfare and likes to keep himself to himself. According to Fortune magazine, the billionaire is painfully shy and loathes self-promotion. He has only ever granted three formal media interviews since 1979.

Philip Anschutz

Be that as it may, Anschutz, who is a major philanthropist, has had no problem putting his family name to a variety of medical and educational institutions to which he has donated millions, somewhat belying his reticent persona. They include Colorado's Anschutz Medical Campus (pictured) and the Anschutz Library in Kansas.

Angela Bennett

Australian mining heiress Angela Bennett is so spotlight-dodging and secretive, the press Down Under has nicknamed her "the night parrot". Bennett has only ever posed for one press photo (she is shown here on the left at a event organized by her son in December 2016), and has a habit of hiding her face from members of the paparazzi. 

Angela Bennett

The mining scion has even gone as far as obtaining the copyright on images of an empty staircase at her former home in Perth, which she sold for a record $39 million back in 2009. Bennett seems to have taken after her late father Peter Wright, who was equally publicity-shy.

Angela Bennett

Bennett is now worth $1.5 billion says Forbes, having fought a number of protracted legal battles over her fortune and lives a very quiet life indeed in the city of Perth (a neighboring apartment to one owned by Bennett is shown here).

Robert Mercer

Reclusive computer scientist and hedge fund boss Robert Mercer cherishes his privacy and has chosen to keep his cards very close to his chest throughout his career, turning down interviews and press. In fact, he is said to prefer cats over people.

Robert Mercer

Mercer, whose net worth is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions at least, was the main investor in the data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica. This company reportedly played a controversial role in Donald Trump's election to government, and the 2016 Brexit campaign when it leant its services to Nigel Farage (pictured), the-then leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). 

Robert Mercer

A supporter of right-wing causes in the US and elsewhere and an opponent of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Mercer was one of the Trump campaign's biggest donors. However, the media scrutiny following these donations is said to be one of the main reasons behind his significantly smaller contributions to the Republicans in 2018. Mercer continued to support Trump in his 2020 election campaign, and in February 2020 donated his first six-figure amount – $355,200 – to the joint fundraising committee for Trump and the Republicans.

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