Advance Praise for KING LARRY “Larry Lee Hillblom (1943–1995) does not have the immediate name recognition of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, or Howard Hughes, but the enigmatic founder of DHL has a story that is just as fascinating—and more mysterious—than any of these genius entrepreneurs . . . a gripping account of the mercurial, visionary, complicated billionaire’s life.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Praise for MAXED OUT “Fiendishly clever . . . After reading Maxed Out, you’re going to want to shed your creditors and reacquaint yourself with the concept of cash.” —BARBARA EHRENREICH “He’s right on the money.” —THE WASHINGTON POST “Astute indictment of the credit card industry . . . Smartly written and by turns funny, irreverent, serious, and angry, Scurlock’s book is well timed . . . he builds a persuasive case that deserves serious attention.” —THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR “Debt is most certainly a taboo subject in our culture, which makes Scurlock’s movie and book that much harder to eyeball. Do. Both, if possible. It’s scary stuff, and oh, so real.” —USA TODAY “James Scurlock . . . is an engaging guide to the corporate numbers games and the personal side of financial ruin.” —MOTH ER JONES “The bone-chilling, bloodcurdling, hair-raising story of a country (guess which one?) that’s up to its eyeballs in credit card debt.” —NEW YORK When globalization pioneer and reclusive billionaire Larry Hillblom disappeared in 1995, he left behind an international fiasco that is still unraveling today. King Larry is a three-part journey, beginning with the early years of a mercurial young man who grew up fatherless on a peach farm outside of Fresno, California. Months after graduating from Boalt Hall School of Law in 1969, Hillblom cofounded DHL—three years before FedEx was formed—and it quickly became the fastest-growing corporation in history. Hillblom’s expatriate life began twelve years later, when he retreated to a small tax haven in the Western Pacific. There, James Scurlock reveals, Hillblom led the resistance to American meddling in the Mariana Islands, rewrote the tax code and real-estate laws, and became a Supreme Court justice—among other unlikely exploits. Hillblom’s voracious appetite for underage prostitutes is another facet of his convoluted story, illuminating the realities of the sex and human-trafficking industries in Southeast Asia. But Hillblom’s amoral, thrill-seeking nature finally caught up with him when his vintage seaplane disappeared off the coast of Anatahan in May 1995, and he left behind an estate worth close to a billion dollars. Weeks later, five impoverished women and their attorneys came forward to challenge Hillblom’s will, his former business partners, and his alma mater, provoking a legal battle that has raged for over fifteen years. From Howard Hughes to Mark Zuckerberg, the public has always been fascinated by larger-than-life entrepreneurs and their eccentricities. Now, James Scurlock engages us with the riveting story of one such man, who dressed in rags and lived in relative obscurity, but who has had a profound and lasting influence—a pioneer who shrank the globe, toppled the postal monopoly, anticipated electronic mail, and, most important, envisioned a world driven by economics rather than by laws. JAMES D. SCURLOCK studied at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. His first film, Parents of the Year, won numerous awards and was an official selection of more than twenty-five film festivals. His first feature- length film, Maxed Out, was named one of the top ten films of 2007 by the Washington Post. His previous book of the same title was awarded the 2008 Ridenhour Book Prize. MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT SimonandSchuster.com •THE SOURCE FOR READING GROUPS• JACKET DESIGN BY JASON HEUER COPYRIGHT © 2012 SIMON & SCHUSTER Thank you for purchasing this Scribner eBook. Sign up for our newsletter and receive special offers, access to bonus content, and info on the latest new releases and other great eBooks from Scribner and Simon & Schuster. or visit us online to sign up at eBookNews.SimonandSchuster.com Also by James D. Scurlock Maxed Out: Hard Times in the Age of Easy Credit