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| Leona Helmsley |
When ‘Queen of Mean’ Leona Helmsley passed away, leaving her Maltese dog $12 million, business partners and those closest to Helmsley speculated the hotel tycoon had been off her rocker in her final days.
Now, her pooch—named Trouble—has seen her fortune dwindle to a paltry $2 million. A New York Judge has also allowed for $6 million each to go to Helmsley’s two disinherited grandchildren, who argued their grandmother was mentally unstable at the signing of her will.
Trustees for Helmsley’s estate argued that the pooch had no need for the money she was awarded. The judge redirected the remaining $10 into Helmsley's billion-dollar charitable foundation.
Trouble now lives in Florida with Carl Lekic, the general manager of the Helmsley Sandcastle Hotel, according to the New York Post.
Yearly expenses for the dog were estimated at $190,000, according to the Post, including a $60,000 guardianship stipend for Lekic, a $100,000 security bill, $8,000 for grooming and more than $20,000 for food and care.
Helmsley died last August at the age of 87. The convicted felon did a year and a half in prison in the late ’80s for tax evasion. In 2002, she was ordered to pay close to a million dollars in damages to an employee she allegedly fired for being gay.
