Marylou Whitney (with John Hendrickson)
March 5, 2001 Marylou Whitney, a New York socialite who frequently cavorts with politicians and celebrities half her age, gave all of her political donations to Republicans during the last election cycle. Although her name adorns one of the most famous Manhattan museums, Whitney was not born rich. In 1958, she became a member of two of the nation's wealthiest families when she married investor and racehorse owner Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney. Direct descendants of cotton gin inventor Eli Whitney and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, the Vanderbilt Whitneys are longtime political players. Marylou Whitney is joined on the Mother Jones 400 by two of her late husband's cousins, Sandra Payson (No. 132, $294,000) and John Payson (No. 357, $165,850). After her husband died in 1992, Whitney inherited his entire $100 million estate. Five years later, the 71-year-old widow married John Hendrickson, a 32-year-old tennis champ and aide to former Governor Wally Hickel of Alaska. Last year, Hendrickson spent $250,00 of his own money to publish The Legend of Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney in honor of his wife's late husband. Hendrickson also became the president of Whitney Industries, making the family company more than $27 million in his first year. The firm has numerous investments, including 51,000 acres of forestland in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. The property was the subject of controversy when the couple decided to sell 14,000 acres. Environmental groups, fearing the land would be turned into subdivisions, lobbied Republican Governor George Pataki to buy the property for the state, while trying to strike a deal with Hendrickson to protect another 36,000 acres. Ultimately, the environmentalists' deal fell through, but Pataki bought the Whitney land for $17.1 million. -- Helene Blatter | | |
