Anna Nicole's stepson no billionaire

2002-09-17 10:18

Jon Herskovitz

Dallas - It doesn't pay to be a billionaire when you have stripper-turned-reality-TV star Anna Nicole Smith for a stepmother and she is snipping away at your wallet.

Dallas tycoon E. Pierce Marshall admits he is a wealthy man but strongly contests Forbes magazine's $1.6 billion estimate of his wealth and their ranking him last week as the 122nd richest man in the United States.

Marshall said he is not wealthy enough to qualify for the Forbes 400 Richest Americans list and he wants his name taken off it for what he believes is a good reason: the appearance of all that money makes him a target for people such as the lawyers representing stepmother Smith - the former Playboy playmate turned TV star.

"He believes that it makes him a target for greedy contingency fee lawyers. That is precisely why all these lawyers are rallying to Anna Nicole Smith's cause," David Margulies, a spokesperson for Marshall, said on Monday.

In 1994, Smith, then 26, was wed to Marshall's father, J. Howard Marshall II, a Texas oil baron, in a 14-month marriage that ended when Marshall passed away at the age of 90.

Smith lost a lawsuit in Houston seeking a part of the Marshall estate, with the court deciding the majority of the assets should go to Pierce.

She was later awarded $88.5 million from the estate by a federal court in California, but has not seen any money from that judgment, which is being appealed.

"It's like you have a sign on your back that says 'Sue me'. The whole reason that Anna Nicole has been able to get all these lawyers to help her is that they think there is a huge payday," Margulies said.

TV viewers have been able to step into the life of Smith in recent weeks thanks to the new series The Anna Nicole Show, which took to the air on E! Entertainment network. It has marked up some of the highest ratings ever for a cable TV reality show.

The show, featuring the plump and word-slurring widow, has reignited the feud between Smith and her stepson, but it has also helped Marshall in the battle of public opinion, Margulies said.

In one episode, Smith was seen vomiting in a restaurant bathroom in an attempt to win an eating contest with her lawyer and son; another featured her dog, Sugar Pie, getting amorous with a stuffed toy.

"It has really been helpful for us from a standpoint of changing her public image," Margulies said.

- Reuters