Real-Estate Mogul Harry Helmsley Dies

NEW YORK - Harry Helmsley, who went to work at 16 as a $12-a-week office boy and built a real-estate empire that included the Empire State Building, has died at age 87.

Mr. Helmsley, a billionaire whose success was overshadowed in recent years by his wife Leona's highly publicized conviction for tax evasion, died of pneumonia at a hospital in Scottsdale, Ariz.

"My fairy tale is over. I lived a magical life with Harry," Leona Helmsley, who was married to her husband 25 years, said.

Leona Helmsley, who was at his side when he died, ordered lights on the Empire State Building turned off at night for one week to mark Mr. Helmsley's death. He had no children.

Son of a dry-goods buyer who went under during the Depression, Harry Brakmann Helmsley never attended college, taking his first job at age 16 as an office boy at the real-estate company he later headed.

While working as a rent collector, Mr. Helmsley made a small fortune buying old buildings in New York's Garment District. He took his methods nationwide, and his Helmsley-Spear wound up with 27 hotels, 50,000 apartments and several architectural landmarks.

Mr. Helmsley kept what he bought, becoming one of the biggest landlords in the country.

But his final years were stained by Leona Helmsley's conviction on federal charges of tax evasion. She spent 18 months in federal prison. Similar charges against him in 1988 were dropped when he was declared incompetent to stand trial.

Forbes magazine in October put his net worth at $1.7 billion.