Larry Flynt is an American entrepreneur and publisher. Larry Flynt net worth was $500 million at the time of his death.
Best known as the president of Larry Flynt Publications, he produced notable magazines such as “Hustler.” Flynt passed away on February 10, 2021, at the age of 78.
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Larry Flynt Early Life
Larry Claxton Flynt Jr. was born in Lakeville, Kentucky, on November 1, 1942. He was the eldest child of Edith and Larry Claxton Flynt Sr.
His father, a World War II veteran, worked as a sharecropper, while his mother was a homemaker.
Flynt had two younger siblings, Judy and Jimmy Ray. Unfortunately, Judy died from leukemia at the age of four, leading to his parents’ divorce a year later.
Consequently, Flynt’s family split up, with Flynt being raised by his mother in Indiana and his brother by their maternal grandmother in Kentucky.
Eventually, Flynt returned to Kentucky to live with his father due to conflicts with his mother’s boyfriend.
He dropped out of high school at fifteen, ran away from home, and joined the United States Army using a fake birth certificate.
After an honorable discharge, he worked various jobs before joining the United States Navy in 1960, serving as a radar operator on the USS Enterprise until his honorable discharge in 1964.
Larry Flynt Early Career
Following his naval service, Flynt embarked on several business ventures. In 1965, he purchased his mother’s bar in Dayton, Ohio, using $1,800 from his savings.
After renovations, the bar quickly generated $1,000 a week in profits, allowing Flynt to buy two more bars.
In 1968, he opened the Hustler Club, a high-class bar featuring nude hostess dancers.
He soon expanded his business, opening Hustler Clubs in various Ohio cities, each earning between $260,000 and $520,000 annually.
Larry Flynt and Hustler Magazine
In 1972, Flynt created the first Hustler newsletter to promote his clubs. Within a year, it grew from four to sixteen pages.
Facing financial difficulties due to the 1973 oil crisis, Flynt transformed the newsletter into an adult magazine, financing the start-up costs by deferring sales tax payments on his clubs.
The first issue of “Hustler” was published in July 1974. By August 1975, the magazine sold over a million copies per month, enabling Flynt to repay his tax debts.
Throughout his career, Flynt faced opposition from individuals who deemed the magazine’s content too explicit.
Early controversial publications included the first “pink-shots” (photos of open vulvas) and paparazzi pictures of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis sunbathing nude.
In 1976, Flynt established Larry Flynt Publications (LFP), a privately held company, and in 1998, he launched Hustler Video film studio to produce pornographic films.
He later acquired VCA Pictures in 2003. Additionally, in 2000, Flynt opened the Hustler Casino in Los Angeles.
Larry Flynt Other Work
Flynt published his autobiography, “An Unseemly Man: My Life as a Pornographer, Pundit, and Social Outcast,” in 1996.
The same year, a film about his life, “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” starring Woody Harrelson and Courtney Love, was released, with Flynt making a cameo appearance.
In 2011, he co-wrote “One Nation Under Sex” with Columbia University history professor David Eisenbach, detailing the sex lives of prominent American leaders.
Larry Flynt Personal Life
In 1978, white supremacist Joseph Paul Franklin attempted to assassinate Flynt over an interracial photo shoot in Hustler.
Although Franklin confessed years later, he was never prosecuted for the crime.
The attack left Flynt paralyzed from the waist down, and he used an $80,000 gold-plated wheelchair for the rest of his life.
Flynt married five times and had four daughters and a son. His fourth wife, Althea, whom he married in 1976, assisted him with his businesses and co-published “Hustler” until her death in 1987.
Flynt married Elizabeth Berrios in 1998, and they remained together until his death. Flynt disowned his eldest daughter, Tonya Flynt-Vega, after she became a Christian anti-pornography activist and publicly criticized “Hustler.”
She authored a book, “Hustled,” accusing Flynt of sexually abusing her as a child, allegations he denied.
Larry Flynt Legacy
Larry Flynt championed free speech rights in the United States, significantly influencing obscenity and parody law.
Politically, he identified as a “civil libertarian to the core” with progressively liberal views.
Although he once ran for president as a Republican in 1984, he predominantly supported Democratic candidates, including Hillary Clinton. Flynt frequently sought to expose sexual scandals involving conservative or Republican politicians.
During the 1998 impeachment proceedings against President Clinton, Flynt offered $1 million for evidence of sexual scandals, leading to the resignation of incoming Republican House Speaker Bob Livingston.
He also offered rewards for information on Mitt Romney’s tax returns and evidence leading to the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
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Conclusion
Larry Flynt’s life and career were marked by controversy and a relentless pursuit of free speech.
As a pioneering publisher, he pushed the boundaries of adult entertainment, fought numerous legal battles, and influenced American culture and politics.
His legacy remains a testament to his complex character and unwavering commitment to his principles.
