Real Estate Topics Forum :: View topic - Russ Whitney threatens his stepmother into silence 3

Guest

Russ Whitney threatens his stepmother into silence by John T. Reed 3

Russ’s childhood claims vs. stepmother’s version
I asked stepmother about the various statements Whitney makes about his childhood.
Source
Whitney claims
stepmother says
p.18 Building Wealth
lousy childhood
redacted
subtitle of Building Wealth
rags
Whitney’s father was employed in a plum job with Otis Elevator. His father owned a fishing boat. His parents were homeowners at a time when 62.9% of Americans were. In other words, they were not in the bottom 37.1% economically. Highlands is a resort town full of vacationers in the summer. In general, his family’s economic situation seems to have been a bit better than average.
p.19 Building Wealth
I had to get a job to support myself and wound up quitting school in the eleventh grade.
redacted
p.22 Building Wealth
stereotypical wicked stepmother
redacted
p.22 Building Wealth
sweet and loving until they married, then her attitude toward my father became one of grudging accommodation
redacted
p.22 Building Wealth
told me repeatedly that I was no good
redacted
p.22 Building Wealth
told me repeatedly that I would never amount to anything
redacted
p.22 Building Wealth
told me that I would probably wind up spending most of my life in jail
redacted
p.22 Building Wealth
“She also physically abused me. I remember clearly how she held my hands over the flame of the gas stove to discipline me.”
redacted
? one of his books
Whitney complained that he would fight with his stepmother and his father would side with her when he came home from work
redacted
Russ …redacted
One day about two years after Russ ran away, he showed up at her door demanding his father’s motorcycle jacket. She gave it to him.
Later, in the summer of 1972 redacted Rumson, NJ redacted. Rumson is about two miles from Highlands. Its business district is tiny. Redacted Middletown is about five miles from Highlands.
Redacted
Redacted somewhere in Florida. Charline and her husband had taken Russ there. Both Charline and her husband are now deceased. I would like someone who knows where in Florida to tell me. I would appreciate any help anyone could provide. This would have been around September or October, 1972.
‘I want my money’
Remember the $8,000 Russ received from his great grandmother and the guy who hit him with his car? Well, Russ knew about that money and kept asking for it, but stepmother wouldn’t give it to him. The great grandmother’s instruction was not to give it to him until she thought he was ready. The $6,000 settlement was not to be given to him until he was 21.
In the late seventies, stepmother got a letter from a lawyer in Schenectady, NY. He said he represented Russ and that Russ wanted his $8,000 plus interest.
How much interest? This money would have been earning interest from around 1962 to about 1978. According to the Statistical Abstract, the average cost of funds for savings and loans was 5.3% in 1970 and 6.32% in 1975. Based on other rates that go back farther in the Abstract, the cost of funds in 1965 appears to have been about 4%.
Year
Rate
Balance
1962
start
$8,000
1963
4%
$8,320
1964
4%
$8,653
1965
4%
$8,999
1966
4%
$9,359
1967
4%
$9,733
1968
4%
$10,123
1969
4%
$10,527
1970
5.3%
$11,085
1971
5.3%
$11,673
1972
5.3%
$12,292
1973
5.3%
$12,943
1974
5.3%
$13,629
1975
6.3%
$14,488
1976
6.3%
$15,400
1977
6.3%
$16,371
1978
6.3%
$17,402
Now, what would $17,402 in 1976 dollars be in 2003 dollars? Using the Internet calculator at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Web site, we find that was $56,274 in 2003 dollars.
Russ Whitney was 23 when he received that $56,274 in today’s dollars—a sort of “inheritance” that he did absolutely nothing to earn.
‘Financially independent at age 23’
That is especially interesting because of a claim Russ keeps making. If you read Russ’s propaganda, he often says he became financially independent at age 23. For example, on page 40 of Building Wealth he says, “When I tell people I was financially independent at age 23, their reaction is usually one of awe.”
What a financial genius!
I could not figure out how he was financially independent at that age. I went to Schenectady—which is where he lived in the late seventies—and checked out all his deals. At that time, he only owned a $25,000 house with a $25,000 mortgage and a $6,500 duplex with a $4,000 mortgage. See my article on his claims versus my investigation.
Well, now we know—and perhaps we should show a little less awe for the great financial genius. He may have been able to quit his job—in his mind at least—because of the windfall stepmother sent him, not because of any success he had in real estate or business. That is a “material fact” which ought to be disclosed each and every time he makes that “financially independent at age 23” claim.
Seems like stepmother deserves a little credit for her integrity. In spite of all Russ did, she never touched his money—even after he ran away. And when he asked for it for the first time when he was an adult, she promptly sent it plus the interest. She also gave him his father’s motorcycle jacket and some other heirlooms. See below.
Final meeting between stepmother and Russ
Stepmother met Russ one last time. Around 1982, shortly after Russ moved to Florida, stepmother and her third husband and her three grandchildren went to Florida on vacation. She called Whitney …redacted
He and his buddy who had moved to Florida from Schenectady with him and their wives drove to where stepmother was and collected the material. Stepmother described Russ as …redacted
When Whitney and his entourage were about to leave, the grandchildren walked out to the car with him. Stepmother stayed inside. redacted
Stepmother’s memory
These events took place between 21 and 44 years ago.
My general impression
Here is my general impression of Russ’s childhood based on a variety of information that I reference elsewhere at this Web site and communication from several persons who knew him when he was a kid. On the good side, he was apparently a decent athlete who was especially good at dribbling a basketball and diving.
So much for the good side.
When I reviewed his book Building Wealth in which he claimed he had a “lousy childhood,” [emphasis added] I said it sounded more like he was lousy child.
Make it rotten kid.
In fact, when he was a teenager, he was reportedly a punk. It is a matter of public record that his teenage years ended with him in prison for second degree robbery. A source who proved very reliable on a number of items said Whitney used a knife to commit that crime. I have not yet sought those crime records. Whitney has now publicly provided his version of the crime. He says there was no weapon or violence.
His own books describe him as having a “bad attitude” and having run away from both his stepmother and aunt. I could fill that line of characterization out with statements his stepmother made to me about things that happened between 1961 and 1971, but there was nothing that would surprise you if you already knew about the above-mentioned public stuff. Suffice it to say that he did not commit second-degree robbery on the way home from an Eagle Scout meeting.
Did Russ have a lousy childhood? I would call it suboptimal in some respects. He and his parents lived in their own home when Russ was 1 to 3 years old. Then he was taken care of by his Aunt Lynn whom he calls a “loving, caring saint.” Then he lived with his father and stepmother from age 6 to 15, again, mostly in a home that they owned. He grew up in the suburbs and a seashore resort. That all sounds average or better than average to me.
On the other side, he did have:
• a parental divorce at age three
• death of his father at age 14
• living with a stepparent, which is not necessarily bad, but often is
Clearly, Russ Whitney and his stepmother did not get along. But I got the impression that she was a decent person who did her duty as his stepmother both before and after Whitney’s father died. In other words, she was not thrilled with being Russ Whitney’s stepmother, but she tried to make the best of it for her husband’s sake.
My sense is that he took a suboptimal, but not that noteworthy situation, and made it far worse through appalling bad behavior. I also sense that his “loving, caring saint” of an aunt may have spoiled him rotten and that he judged all subsequent adult relatives by her standard and unwisely rejected them as a result. He should have made more effort to get along with the adults in his life when he was a minor. When he was old enough to support himself, he should have moved out.
What does he have to hide?
After a year of investigating this guy, I have discovered a number of patterns. One is that starting with his 1994 book Building Wealth, he either omits or obfuscates times and places where he has something to hide. The classic example was his use of the phrase “upstate New York”. See the articles I wrote about what I found when I travelled to “upstate New York” and investigated him.
• Hit-and-run accident and lawsuit
• the truth about his “first fortune”
• Whitney claims versus Reed’s investigation
So it is useful to look at what other places and times he obfuscates or omits entirely from Building Wealth and subsequent writings.
Basically, that would be the period from when he was eight years old (1963) until he was twenty (1975). Whitney claims he has not discussed these matters in his book because they do not related to realestate. But that is a selective policy. How come we know all this stuff about his “wicked stepmother” and New York City and all that if he does not write about his pre-real-estate days?
He says in Building Wealth he grew up in Queens ran away from his stepmother and aunt and lived with his half sister while working three jobs, then went to Schenectady.
Wrong.
The actual chronology and locations as best I have been able to piece it together so far is listed above under “The boy from New York City” subhead.
Here are the times and places he omits or obfuscates thereby indicating to me that he has something to hide at the time and place in question:
• Living in Highlands, NJ and attending Henry Hudson Regional Junior-Senior High School from 1967 (age 12) to around 1971 (age 15).
• Living in the Reno, NV area around 1971 (age 15).
• Attending a military school in California or Texas around 1971-2 (age 16)
• Return to the Monmouth County, NJ area around 1972 (age 17)
• Moving to somewhere in Florida with his stepsister Charline and her husband around 1972 (age 17)
• Living with half sister Barbara—maybe in Queens—around 1973 (age 1 Cool

• prison term in Queens—August 30, 1974—paroled on March 9, 1976 (age 18-20)
What did Russ Whitney do in these places and times? I think I know about some of it, but I may need confirmation to write about it. In other cases, I am not sure I know. What I do know, is that he never mentioned any of this, other than living with Barbara, in Building Wealth. Based on what I found about where he was from 1974 to 1976 (prison for armed robbery) and what he was up to in “Upstate New York” makes me conclude that Russ Whitney very much does not want what he did in these times and places to become known. His threat against his stepmother bolsters that conclusion.
If past experience in any indication, I will now start hearing from persons who knew Whitney during those times. I’ll keep you posted.
Whitney whines that these events were a long time ago. How long ago they were is precisely stated in my writings about them. My readers can decide for themselves what weight, if any, they wish to give to such events. Once again I note that they did not seem to be so overly “long ago” when Whitney felt the need to write about his “lousy childhood.” They only become “long ago” when I provide a more complete picture of the time in question.
John T. Reed
Copyright 2003 by John T. Reed
Last update 7/7/03
Guru ratings | Real estate investment page | Order form | Real estate investment books | Main Reed on Whitney page | Whitney claims vs. Reed research | Status of Whitney vs. Reed lawsuit | Whitney hit and run | Whitney assets | Have information on Whitney? | Review of Building Wealth | Whitney affiliations | Whitney publications | Unauthorized biography of Whitney | Suing Whitney | Whitney and income taxes
John T. Reed, a.k.a. John Reed, Jack Reed, 342 Bryan Drive, Alamo, CA 94507, Voice: 925-820-7262, Fax: 925-820-1259, Email: johnreed@johntreed.com

CONSUMER WARNING NOTICE: I recently saw Russ Whitney on a late night TV infomercial and then attended one of his "free" seminars. Unfortunately I believed all of their LIES and FRAUDULENT CLAIMS and I paid thousands of dollars to go to his "training camps". Needless to say I was clearly ripped off, cheated and lied to by Russ Whitney and his employees (band of thieves). My mistake was not searching the Internet to find out more about Russ Whitney and his company's HORRIBLE reputation for fraud, deception and illegal activities. Had I searched online I would have found out about THOUSANDS of customers being cheated, HUNDREDS of investigations by the Attorney General into the fraud of Russ Whitney and his company's, and that Russ Whitney himself is a CONVICTED VIOLENT FELON and spent years in PRISON. I saved the cached pages from the major search engines of the John Reed lawsuit with Russell Whitney and the TRUTH and FACTS that Reed discovered during his investigation of Whitney. I am posting this information on real estate discussion boards so other people do NOT get cheated and ripped off like I did.