Billionaire Harold Simmons Dies

Texas billionaire Harold Simmons, considered a “megadonor” to conservative causes and politicians, died Sunday in Dallas. He was 82. A businessman, Simmons started his first store with $5,000 in cash and a $95,000 bank loan—which turned into a chain of stores that he sold for $50 million in 1973 to Jack Eckerd. In the 1970s and ‘80s, Simmons became one of Dallas’s biggest corporate raiders, and by 2012, he was the 40th richest man in the country, according to Forbes. Simmons donated heavily to conservative causes, such as giving $2 million to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004. In 2012, he donated roughly $31 million to numerous candidates and PACs. He also donated hundreds of millions to local hospitals.