Latest news with #Mitzi
Hindustan Times
7 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Who is Mitzi Perdue? Heiress of $12 billion Sheraton hotel empire still rides the subway
Mitzi Perdue, the 84-year-old heiress to not one, but two American business empires, Sheraton Hotels and Perdue Farms, is an anomaly in a world where wealthy individuals often show off their fortune through private jets and couture wardrobes. Perdue chooses hand-me-downs over designer threads and prefers fixing her old shoes to buying new ones. She could have spent her life floating above it all in first class. Instead, she stands firmly on the ground, living in a middle-class apartment and taking the subway like any regular commuter. And she insists it's not for show. In a recent interview with Perdue opened up about why she chooses a modest, service-oriented life despite her billionaire legacy. 'I'm unaware of getting praise for wearing really expensive clothes- you get praised like heck for being an Eagle Scout, or working for Habitat for Humanity. You get praise for serving others,' she says. Mitzi's story begins in 1941, as the fifth child of the Henderson family, the founders of the Sheraton hotel chain. She grew up during wartime in hand-me-downs and attended public school for a time before going on to earn a Harvard education. Her father, Ernest Henderson, passed away when she was in her late twenties, leaving her and her siblings with controlling stakes in the $12 billion hospitality business. Later, she married Frank Perdue, the man behind Perdue Farms, America's largest chicken producer which is now worth over $10 billion. The double inheritance could have easily led to a life of luxury. But Mitzi never saw wealth as a reason to stop working or contributing. She's had access to a sizable trust and immense privilege, yet she has always chosen to live simply. Her one-bedroom flat in Salisbury, Maryland, shares walls with nurses, police officers and even a few Perdue employees. The annual rent, she notes, is about the same as what her New York friends pay in a month. Mitzi could have stayed out of the spotlight, letting her wealth work quietly in the stock market. Instead, she leaned into agriculture. After buying land near the University of California, Davis, she managed a rice farm that supported research experiments. Later, she moved into journalism, covering farming practices and mental health. Then came the Ukraine war. In 2022, she started reporting on the conflict and sold her $1.2 million engagement ring to support humanitarian efforts. She now devotes time to developing an AI trauma therapist for Ukrainian victims in need of mental health care. Also read: Seeking unity, G7 meets amid escalating Ukraine, Middle East conflicts For all her travels, economy class remains her seat of choice. Even in New York City, she skips the black cars and rides the subway. 'If you're always going on private jets, what inkling do you have about the real world?' she asks. So why does a woman with unimaginable wealth choose frugality? For Mitzi, it's simple. A life of service brings her joy-far more than luxury ever could. She believes the key to sustaining a legacy lies in stewardship, not splurging. In both the Henderson and Perdue families, she says, the emphasis was always on looking after the wealth for the next generation. Mitzi may have inherited billions, but the way she lives suggests something richer: a deep understanding that meaning comes not from what you have, but from what you give. 1 Who is Mitzi Perdue?Mitzi Perdue is the heiress to both the Sheraton hotel empire and Perdue Farms. She is also a journalist, author, and philanthropist known for her modest lifestyle. 2 How is she connected to Sheraton and Perdue Farms?She inherited the Sheraton legacy through her father, Ernest Henderson, and married Frank Perdue, the man behind Perdue Farms. 3 Why does she live frugally despite her wealth?Perdue believes in service over indulgence. She says her family never encouraged extravagance and taught her to be a steward of wealth rather than a spender.
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Utah woman receives 100 cancer treatments, living far beyond doctors' expectations
SALT LAKE CITY () — When she first got her cancer diagnosis years ago, 84-year-old Dukhi Hong couldn't have imagined coming this far. 'It feels like a dream,' Dukhi said in Korean, while reminiscing about the past six years she's spent coming to the cancer center. The doctor said that with her diagnosis, patients have six to nine months left to live. However, on Friday, Dukhi exceeded all expectations: She came to Utah Cancer Specialists to receive her 100th dose of immunotherapy. Utah loses bid to keep Sundance Film Festival after 40 years of history Alarms first started to ring for Dukhi's health in June of 2019. According to Dukhi's daughter, Dukhi collapsed in a seizure, so the family rushed her to the emergency room. That's when the doctors found small cell lung cancer in her body. The form of cancer that they found was notorious for being aggressive and for spreading quickly. At the time, the cancer had already metastasized to the brain, explained Dr. Stephan Kendall, the medical oncologist at . 'Our whole world crashed,' Dukhi's daughter, Mitzi Maughan, said while tears flooded to her eyes. The pain of when she first received the news is still fresh to Mitzi. Dukhi first came to Utah in 1965 from Seoul, South Korea. She had followed her then-husband to live in a land that was 6,000 miles away from her home. Sixty years later, she still remembers the exact date: 'It was May 16th,' she said. 'I didn't know how to speak English. I had just learned the ABCs.' Dukhi said. She was pregnant at the time, and about seven years after coming to the country, she became a single mother, raising three daughters and a son on her own. 'It was tough… But somehow, I just lived on,' she said. 'She's our hero,' Mitzi told She said her mother's strength and positivity continue to inspire her. The family had to squeeze their lives in between doctor appointments, as Dukhi had to come in every three to four weeks to receive her dose of immunotherapy. What started out as a bleak affair has now become a happy family occasion, as the whole family gathers to be with Dukhi during her immunotherapy sessions. 'We make it an outing and we just know that the treatment that she just received is going to buy us more time with her,' Mitzi said. Balloons, cakes, daughters, sons-in-law, and laughter filled the treatment room as Dukhi awaited the end of her infusion. 'I've never had a patient receive 100 doses of any kind of treatment honestly,' Dr. Kendall said while explaining Dukhi's case. Dukhi's recovery has reportedly perplexed doctors. 'We certainly don't understand everything,' Dr. Kendall said, but he added that it might be something within her immune system that helped her to respond really well to the drugs. Dukhi's latest scans showed no signs of cancer in the lungs. However, this doesn't mean she's completely out of the woods. Small cell lung cancer can come back, and when it does, it's harder to treat, according to Dr. Kendall. Also, her prognosis showed some of the cancerous cells in her brain coming back, although at a very minimal stage. Overall, 'She's doing really well,' Dr. Kendall said. On Friday, Dukhi left the center in a cheerful gait as if to flaunt her remarkable triumph over a deadly cancer. Her family tagged along, eager to spend the precious time that their mother and immunotherapy had been able to pave. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
