Mark Hughes, Herbalife's Founder, Dead at Age 44
Stephen Barrett
In May 2002, Herbalife founder, chairman, and chief executive officer Mark Reynold Hughes, was found dead at his $27 million oceanfront mansion in Malibu, California. In a series of articles about the death, David Evans (Bloomberg News) reported:
- Hughes died after a 4-day drinking binge, apparently from an overdose of alcohol and the antidepressant drug doxepin.
- His blood alcohol level was 0.21% (more than double the "drunk driving" level).
- He was being treated by a psychiatrist for a drinking problem.
- Hughes said many times that he had been inspired to start his company after his mother (Jo Ann Hartman) died from taking diet pills. However, Hartman's autopsy found that she died of an overdose of Darvon, a narcotic painkiller. At the time of her death she was 5-foot-6-inches tall but weighed only 105 pounds.
This article was posted on December 17, 2004.