J. Howard Marshall

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J. Howard Marshall

James Howard Marshall II (January 24, 1905 – August 4, 1995) was a wealthy American oil business executive. He was briefly married to Playboy Playmate and topless dancer Anna Nicole Smith.

Marshall attended George School, received his undergraduate education at Haverford College, and graduated from Yale Law School with magna cum laude honours in 1931. After graduation he became assistant dean at Yale Law School. It was here he studied oil, which took him on a lifelong journey that eventually made him a multi-millionaire. In 1933, he was recruited by U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Harold L. Ickes and later was a member of the Petroleum Administration for War during World War II. He began his career in the oil industry when he joined Standard Oil of California (now the Chevron Corporation). He went on to hold top positions at Ashland Oil and Refining Co., Signal Oil and Gas, Union Texas Petroleum and Allied Signal until his semi-retirement in 1970. Marshall remained active in the energy industry through many personal endeavors with Great Northern Oil Company, Koch Industries and culminating in 1984, when he founded Marshall Petroleum.

Marshall turned his investment in Great Northern Oil Co. with Fred Koch during the 1950s into a 16% stake in Koch Industries, now the nation's largest privately held company. When eldest son J. Howard Marshall III sided with sons Bill and Fred Koch in a failed attempt to take over Koch Industries from Charles and David Koch, he stripped the eldest son of his inheritance, making E. Pierce Marshall his primary heir.

Marshall died 14 months after marrying former stripper Anna Nicole Smith, who would later become involved in a court battle with her former stepson, E. Pierce Marshall (who died on June 20, 2006, at the age of 67 after contracting an infection). In 2001, she lost her case during a five-month Texas state court jury trial, upholding Marshall's will and trust. Smith then declared bankrupcy in California and was awarded $474MM as a sanction for alleged misconduct. In 2002, the bankruptcy judgement was vacated and her award was reduced to 88 million in a Federal District Court in California. In December 2004, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the District Court decision and affirmed the Texas Probate jury finding that no misconduct had taken place, Smith was not one of J. Howard Marshall's heirs and that the federal courts lacked juristiction over state probate matters. However, on 1 May 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court in Marshall v. Marshall overturned the ninth circuit's decision on jurisdictional grounds, allowing Smith another opportunity to pursue her claims in federal court. The case has now been remanded to the 9th Circuit for adjudication of the remaining appellate issues not previously reached.