True to Form

, By Herbert E. Nass, partner, Herbert E. Nass and Associates, New York

By Herbert E. Nass, partner, Herbert E. Nass and Associates, New York

During Leona Helmsley's lifetime, the real estate mogul and hotel magnate was reviled for allegedly saying “only the little people pay taxes,” then going to jail for failing to do so, much to the glee of the New York tabloids. After Leona's death — from heart failure at age 87 on Aug. 20, 2007 — the media had a last chance to mock her as the “Queen of Mean.”

Although Leona left millions to relatives and the bulk of her estimated $2.5 billion estate to her charitable foundation, she made headlines for also reportedly leaving a whopping $12 million to her 8-year-old Maltese named Trouble — yet nothing to two of her four surviving grandchildren.

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