Mark R. Hughes

Hughes was born in La Mirada, California, on January 1, 1956, the son of Stuard Hartman and Jo Ann Hughes. His parents divorced in 1970, when Mark was 14, and his mother retained custody of Mark. At this point, the family survived on welfare payments with Hughes' mother suffering from mental health issues. She attempted to treat obesity and tension with amphetamines and sleeping pills. In the ninth grade Hughes dropped out of school and began using drugs himself. "I was a little delinquent," he says. "I got in trouble with the law." At 16, he was sent to CEDU High School, a private residential school for troubled youngsters in Running Springs, California, whose origins were associated with Synanon, a group founded in 1958 and later described as a cult. Part of Hughes' CEDU rehab required him to raise money by selling raffle tickets. Hughes became the school's best salesman. "The approval there was based on how much funds you raised," Hughes told People in 1985. "There was a lot of pressure, and I wanted to be the best right away." According to the autopsy report, several empty vials of prescription drugs were found beside her bed, and her doctor told the coroner she "was known to over-ingest her prescription drugs." == Career ==

Hughes began his career in 1976 at Seyforth Laboratories selling diet products. He spent three years there and was listed as one of the company's top 100 earners. In 1979, after Seyforth Laboratories shut down, he joined Golden Youth, a direct-sales outfit that sells exercise equipment and weight-control products. When Golden Youth went out of business, Hughes decided to start his own operation. In the mid-1980s, Hughes was sued by the Food and Drug Administration, the California attorney general's office, and the state Department of Health, over what they said were false health claims about Herbalife products and the various schemes used to market them. Health agencies accused the company of violating labeling standards and using improper sales practices. Hughes reached settlements with the regulatory agencies in 1986. To settle his problems with the state, Hughes agreed to pay $850,000. At the time, the California attorney general, John Van De Kamp, was quoted in The Wall Street Journal as saying it was the "largest settlement ever attained from a health products company." == Personal life ==

In 1979, Hughes met Kathryn Whiting, a former Miss Santa Monica, who would become his first wife. They divorced in 1984 and in the same year, he married Angela Mack, a Swedish former beauty queen. In December 1991, the couple welcomed a son, Alexander Reynolds "Alex" Hughes. Suzan filed for divorce from Hughes in September 1997. In February 1999, Hughes married Darcy LaPier, an American actress and model. Their marriage continued until his death the following year on May 21, 2000, at his home in Malibu, California. Hughes' then 9-year-old son, Alexander "Alex" Hughes, was named sole beneficiary of his father's estate, estimated to be worth $400 million. Hughes's will stipulated that, until Alex turns 35, the bulk of his inheritance would be held in a trust managed by Jack Reynolds (Alex's paternal grandfather), attorney Conrad Klein, and Herbalife executive Christopher Pair. In 2006, the Los Angeles Superior Court ruled to remove Reynolds from supervising a $35 million custodianship after finding that he violated multiple probate laws by ceding control to Klein and commingling Alex's personal assets with partnership accounts. Reynolds was suspended, After the removal, Alex chose Fidelity Investments to oversee the fund – a decision that was later reversed in a California Court of Appeal. == Philanthropy ==

Mark and Suzan established the Herbalife Family Foundation (HFF) in 1994, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving vulnerable children's lives through helping charity organizations meet the nutritional needs of children at risk, and providing funds to organizations that assist victims of natural disasters. == References ==