Irene Wells Pennington

Irene Wells Pennington (December 1898 – July 17, 2003) was the widow of Claude B. "Doc" Pennington, a wealthy oilman from Louisiana.[1]

When he was well into his 90s and losing his touch mentally, she had him declared mentally incompetent and took charge of his fortune, estimated by Forbes at $600 million.[2][3][1]

She straightened out financial irregularities and replaced managers then and shortly after his death, before largely retiring.

This drew considerable attention, not only because of the substantial value of the fortune, but because of the fact of a senile nonagenarian's affairs being taken over by someone actually slightly older than he.

The Pennington family still owns substantial land in southern Louisiana. The Pennington Biomedical Research Center was named for the family.

References

  1. 1 2 "In Pictures: America's Youngest And Oldest Billionaires - Forbes.com". www.forbes.com. Archived from the original on 6 Oct 2008. Retrieved 2026-04-24.
  2. ↑ Elendu, Emmanuel (29 May 2015). Digging for Gold. WestBow Press. ISBN 978-1-4908-7957-4 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ Archives, L. A. Times (28 September 1998). "Gates, Buffett Again Top Forbes List of Richest". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-04-24.
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