George Hearst

George Hearst
Hearst c. 1891 or earlier
United States Senator from California
In office March 4, 1887 – February 28, 1891
Preceded by	Abram P. Williams
Succeeded by	Charles N. Felton
In office March 23, 1886 – August 4, 1886
Appointed by	George Stoneman
Preceded by	John F. Miller
Succeeded by	Abram P. Williams
Member of the California State Assembly from the 8th district
In office 1865–1867
Personal details
Born	(1820-09-03)September 3, 1820 Sullivan, Missouri Territory
Died	February 28, 1891(1891-02-28) (aged 70) Washington, D.C.
Resting place	Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, Colma, California
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Phoebe Elizabeth Apperson ​ ​ (m. 1862)​
Children	William Randolph Hearst
Profession	Business magnate and politician
Net worth	USD $19 million at the time of his death,[1] equivalent to $644 million in 2021
Signature

George Hearst (September 3, 1820 – February 28, 1891) was an American businessman, politician, and patriarch of the Hearst business dynasty. After growing up on a small farm in Missouri, he founded many mining operations, and is known for developing and expanding the Homestake Mine in the late 1870s in the Black Hills of South Dakota. In 1879, he listed it on the New York Stock Exchange and went on to other pursuits. The mine's gold production continued uninterrupted until 2001.

After settling in San Francisco in the early 1860s, Hearst became a politician, first representing San Francisco in the state legislature for one term. He also maintained mining interests through his company. Hearst was appointed as a United States senator in 1886 to fill a vacancy and was elected as a Democrat later that year on his own account.^[2] He served in the Senate from 1887 to his death in 1891. His only child from his late marriage (at age 42) was his son William Randolph Hearst, who became internationally known as a newspaperman and publisher, and was a primary inspiration for Orson Welles' 1941 film Citizen Kane.