The Weirdo Who Made the First Media Empire

There once was a rich man who was so weird they made a movie about him. That movie was Citizen Kane. I am not kidding. This is the story of William Hearst. A early media mogul and absolute weirdo.

Edited by Tyler Franklin

[InquisitorThomas]

Man this is a wild story, somebody should make a movie about this, it might be a the greatest film since Citizen Kane.

[bigginsd]

Please do the sequel where his granddaughter was kidnapped by a cult, got Stockholm syndrome and started robbing banks. That’s a wild ride.

[aze]

I love the fact that one of the reasons he hated Citizen Kane was because it portrayed his mother negatively

[wetwillyis_]

Hurst has to be one of the most American Americans I’ve ever heard about. I just new he was the newspaper guy, not all of this crazy shit. Him and Teddy truly were two sides of one coin. Credit to this kid’s mom. She always believed in him.

[VulpesHilarianus]

Fun fact, William Randolph Hearst wasn't just interested in comics, he actually developed a comic obsession when he moved to New York. It's reported that whenever he saw someone draw something that made him laugh, he hired them to draw comics for his papers. Eventually he had so many strips that he couldn't fit them into his papers, and in at least one instance (The New York Evening Journal) he bought a newspaper just to get the rights to a comic strip (The Yellow Kid) since the rights weren't held by the author. Thankfully, as show in the video, the original author came along with his creation.

[dyingearth]

Charles Foster Kane was in many ways an idealized William Randolph Hurst. He was not only rich, but utterly talented at what he put his mind to. He was alas also a prediction of what Orson Welles will become, a insanely talented young man who got bogged down by life at the end.

[JaelaOrdo]

“It sounds slimy, and it was, but hey.”

I’m convinced that’s just journalism in general.

[theconversationalelitist]

What a weird, sad, strangely unfulfilling life. You know what, it would actually make a really good movie about the downsides of wealth and the intense loneliness of billionaires that forces them into a life tof no real connections, instead choosing meanlingless achievements like political gain and lust over self introspection. They could even call it like "Citizen Hearst" to show how these people exist in American society

[jchristHeckYeah]

You know it’s gonna be a good video when it starts off with a place and time.

[erickamakeeaina]

5:56
I just love how the part where this guy orchestrated a prison break in foreign territory is just a foot note to the whole story.

[concept]

Daves running away into the depths of Mexico for months (presumably shit faced for most of it) and then coming back is so surreal.

[emilchaos]

Isn't it crazy to be alive when the movie depicting your life comes out? Like damn, it wasn't even his idea to have the movie

[CaptCool]

Hearst is the definition of throwing money at the problem.

[alex_zetsu]

I find it funny that Hearst's problem with the movie that parodied him wasn't because it portrayed _him_ as ambitious and greedy, but because it put Davies in a bad light

[shaider]

I was surprised that Citizen Kane was on theaters while Hearst was still alive. The producers were definitely ballsy.

[smjaiteh]

What a great story. Hope someone makes a movie on this weirdo.

[mapman]

I live on the Californian Central Coast and have actually seen Hearst Castle. I can confirm only a man like Hearst would build the castle itself.

[skyblivious]

When you said that he got some journalists to go bust some girl outta jail, the first thing that popped into my mind was literal journalists with pens and clipboards breaking someone out of prison. Damn I love this channel

[DonMadruga]

Oh, what an interesting scenario.
Imagine if this guy had actually existed? It's impressive how Cody became professional in Alternative History to the point where he make appears that Citizen Kane existed.

[katamarankatamaranovich]

Kane's story is waaaay more sympathetic than Hearst's. Like geez, this guy is a Borderlands villain.