In Focus

Stanley S. Hubbard, Good Guy from God's Country

NOTE: All this month in the Chicks' Eye View we will be featuring the richest of the rich from the Forbes List of the World's Richest People. Just who are they and how'd they get to be so filthy rich?

We've finally moved... well, kinda. We're in the right area, just not in the right house yet. We've packed up our home in Calgary, Alberta and moved on down to God's country (or at least what us natives call it) -- Minnesota. I'm so happy to be home after being away for nineteen years. The first thing I did was run down to the St. Croix River and check on our new house being built. It's progressing nicely and, if I can say, soooo beautiful. On the fireplace we have etched in stone, Velis et Remis, which in latin means "With Sails and Oars" but the Latins used it when they wanted to convey, "Full Speed Ahead." Seemed appropriate for the Housley family and our house on the river. Anyway, it was full speed ahead for me on my little boat as I went up river and passed my neighbor, Mr. Stanley S. Hubbard, today's topic of the Chick's Eye View. My neighbor you see, is a billionaire. 

Stanley S. (the "S" is important here as you'll soon see) is worth 1.6 billion and just happens to have been born and raised in God's country. He grew up the son of Stanley E., a media man. 

Stanley E. got his first radio operation underway in 1924 with a small studio, a transmitter, a couple of pole antennas and some dance bands that played five nights a week from a ballroom. He loved music, but his passion was the news. He loved news so much that he decided to put it on the radio at 6 PM every night. He claims to have had the first daily radio news broadcast in the country, on WAMD, in God's country. 

Soon after, Stan E. got interested in television. Along with his son, Stanley S., (the billionaire and my neighbor), they got KSTP, a station here in (ahem) God's Country, off the ground. It was the first station in the country to begin broadcasting in color. Then they took it one step further and developed a weather center that was the envy of the U.S. Weather service. But, in 1981, the company took a new turn, a big turn, an orbital turn... the Direct Broadcast Satellite network, DBS. It was an "out there" idea, but the Stans thought they could actually send a satellite into orbit that would allow television stations and homes alike to get network feed direct from the sky, err, satellite. It was brilliant, if it could work. 

It worked, and now Stanley S. is a billionaire.

I could go on and on about the many businesses that filtered down from there and that Stanley S. has his hands in (Hubbard Broadcasting, USSB, Conus Communications and the list goes on), but that's stuff you can find on the web anywhere. Like the big deal going down right now between EchoStar (Dish Satellite) and Hughes Communications (Hubbard Broadcasting is largest shareholder) that would merge the two satellite providers. But you can read about that in tomorrow's Market Wrap. If I'm his neighbor, I should be giving you the scoop. 

Everyone loves him. Everyone in the whole wide world loves this man. I have never in my life heard a single person say a negative thing about him. He's just that good of guy. While surfing the net, I found this speech he gave. 

In my opinion, there should be active instruction by way of example in business and law schools to teach people about the importance of integrity. Whenever I have been fortunate enough to be in a mentoring situation for students, I have gone out of my way to tell these young people that they know right from wrong and they should never, ever -- no matter who asks them, no matter how important the deal or how much money is involved -- do anything that could be interpreted by their conscience or by others as dishonest. 

Amen. That is trademark Stanley S.

He also loves to boat and he's out on the river a ton. But, don't look for him, you'd never guess it's him. Everyone thinks they see him on his monster of a boat called MIMI, but he's hardly on it. He lets everyone else use that. He travels by dingy. True story. You'll see him in a little yellow plastic boat hanging out at my next door neighbors. (Hint: he's the one wearing socks with his sandals.) The guy is so down to earth, you might mistake him for the gardener. 

His good nature extends down through his five children. His son, Stanley E. II (confusing you yet?) is a friend of mine. (Scoop: recently engaged.) He also lives on the river and is the greatest guy. Never once in conversation does he drop that he has a fleet of planes in the hangar out back. (Traveled on one once with him, and again, didn't even make me pay for gas.) His daughter is also my neighbor (the Hubbards have a lot of land), and in a Welcome Wagon manner, she's helping me find a babysitter. 

There is no soap opera behind the Hubbard Family (except that Stanley is President of Television Academy and presides over the Daytime Emmys so he owns Erica Kane), or any gossip for me to spread (not that I would), nor is there any dirt that the family is trying to cover up. There's only sand, sand on the St. Croix River, in front of one of the nicest man's home in all of God's country. Oh, and he's a billionaire.

Velis et Remis! I need to borrow some sugar!