What was Larry Flynt’s net worth? Inside Hustler magazine founder's business empire before his death at 78
Larry Flynt, the pioneering founder of Hustler magazine, has died at the age of 78. Flynt, who was reportedly richer than his pornography publisher counterpart Hugh Hefner, died from heart failure at his home in Los Angeles, California, on February 10, 2021, confirmed his brother, Jimmy, according to TMZ. Flynt had been in several legal battles regarding the regulation of pornography and free speech within the United States, especially attacking the Miller v. California (1973) obscenity exception to the First Amendment.
Flynt was born in Lakeville, Kentucky, on November 1, 1942, and attended Salyersville High School. However, Flynt ran away from his home at the age of 15 and joined the United States Army using a counterfeit birth certificate. After being honorably discharged from his duties, he returned to his mother in Indiana and started to work with the Inland Manufacturing Company. Flynt also worked as a bootlegger for a short while but stopped smuggling alcohols after learning that the county deputies were searching for him. After exhausting all his savings, he joined the United States Navy in 1960 and worked as a USS Enterprise radar operator. He was honorably discharged after four years of service.
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Hustler Club
After coming back home from the Navy, he bought his mother’s bar in Dayton, Ohio, for $1,800 and refurnished it as per the modern norms. He bought two other bars from the profit and started to take amphetamines so he can work for at least 20 hours per day. The success of the bars in Ohio gave him the idea of opening a higher-class bar, the first in the area to feature nude hostess dancers. With the help of his brother Jimmy, Flynt opened a series of nude bars in several states, which he called Hustler Club.
Clubs from Akron, Cleveland, and Cincinnati started to gross over $260,000 a year.
Following Hustler Clubs' success, Flynt created the Hustler Newsletter for his customers who visited his club. However, after the economy fell due to the recession, he decided to turn his newsletter into a sexually explicit magazine with national distribution. Hustler's first issue was published in July 1974 and caught the nation’s eye after a couple of shots from the later issues were deemed too explicit by the distributors. He was reportedly approached by a paparazzo who claimed he had taken pictures of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy while she was sunbathing nude in 1971. Flynt purchased the photo and printed it in his magazine, which created a sensation in the nation.
"A game-changer"
Following the news that Flynt has passed away, several Hustler Magazine fans mourned his death on Twitter. One user wrote: "Larry Flynt showed me the pink before I was able to get girls to show it to me themselves. RIP to a pioneer and a legend." Another wrote: "#HughHefner tried to disguise his magazine as a classy lifestyle publication to get around the censorship of the time. #LarryFlynt said proudly, “Yes, I sell smut, and you have no right to tell me I can’t!” I respect him more." A third user tweeted, "Remember when people thought Larry Flynt was a hero? The 90s, man, they were different times." Another fan wrote, "R.I.P Larry Flynt Guy was def a game changer". Another resonated similar thoughts: "R.I.P. Larry Flynt. You did much, much, more than just publish a magazine." One more tweeted, "RIP Larry Flynt. Think what you want, but Flynt was the one who stepped up and helped us get High Times Magazine distributed when no one else would. Heffner refused. Rolling Stone refused. He was also hilariously funny."
Larry Flynt showed me the pink before I was able to get girls to show it to me themselves. RIP to a pioneer and a legend.
— Riprash (@Du_ma_nhieu) February 10, 2021
#HughHefner tried to disguise his magazine as a classy lifestyle publication to get around the censorship of the time. #LarryFlynt said proudly, “Yes, I sell smut, and you have no right to tell me I can’t!” I respect him more.
— Bill Koester (@Billy_dk_89) February 10, 2021
Remember when people thought Larry Flynt was a hero?
— Philip Matthews (@secondzeit) February 10, 2021
The 90s, man, they were different times.
R.I.P. Larry Flynt. You did much, much, more than just publish a magazine.
— AleisterBlacke (@AleisterBlacke) February 10, 2021
RIP Larry Flynt.
— There are some who call me...TIM (@TimNoEgo) February 11, 2021
Think what you want, but Flynt was the one who stepped up and helped us get High Times Magazine distributed when no one else would. Heffner refused. Rolling Stone refused.
He was also hilariously funny.
Larry Flynt’s net worth
As per Celebrity Net Worth, Flynt had a net worth of $500 million. It was reported that after becoming paralyzed from the waist down, he used an $80,000 gold-plated wheelchair.
Flynt opened the Hustler Casino, a card room located in the L.A. suburb of Gardena in 2000. It was speculated by many that due to Flynt’s legal troubles, he might not get the license to operate a casino. However, the California Gambling Control Commission allegedly stated that Flynt was the solo gaming licensee of the Hustler Casino. Under his Larry Flynt Publications, he also started Barely Legal — a pornographic magazine that featured young women who had recently turned 18.