Howard Hughes Research Paper

Howard Hughes Jr. was an American entrepreneur, engineer, film producer, and inventor. He was born on December 24, 1905 in Humble, Texas and was the son of Howard Hughes Sr., the wealthy owner of a successful oil drill bit company called Hughes Tool Company. Upon the loss of both of his parents by the year 1922, Howard dropped out of college at Rice Institute in Houston and began his endeavors in the business world, using his father’s tool company, which he inherited. During his life he started, bought, and sold many businesses, and at one point during his life was the richest man in the United States. By the time of his death on April 5, 1976, he had earned a net worth of what is equivalent to 11 billion dollars today, gaining for himself

He, therefore, started Hughes Aircraft Company, which produced airplanes and eventually began building and designing aircraft for the Unites States Military. Through this company, Hughes developed the fastest airplane the world had ever known, personally piloting the aircraft and breaking many flight time records. He also designed and built the H-4 Hercules, which was originally intended to be a military plane to transport vehicles during World War II, but turned into a private project due to the military’s cancellation of the aircraft’s production at the end of the war. This plane, after its completion, was the biggest plane in the world at the time. Later on, Howard also started other branches off of Hughes Aircraft, such as, Hughes Helicopters, Hughes Aerospace Group, and Hughes Space and Communications Company, which built the first commercial communications satellite and produced the first successful craft to correctly perform a lunar landing during the NASA Surveyor missions. Clearly, Howard’s aviation and aerospace business endeavors were are large part of his success and

Howard was a total perfectionist, but this perfectionism manifested itself in many ways, not all of them beneficial. He had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and germ phobia, which eventually ruined his life. His obsessions and fears grew so bad that he would lock himself in rooms for very long periods and would let no one see him. He would only drink orange juice that was freshly squeezed under his supervision and would use towels or tissues when touching many common objects. These conditions, in addition to medication addiction, ruined