The Hearst Family: The Newspaper Empire, the Castle, and the Kidnapped Heiress

On April 15th, 1974, a bank security camera in San Francisco captured a young woman in a beret holding an M1 carbine during an armed robbery. She was Patricia Hearst, granddaughter of publishing titan William Randolph Hearst — and just ten weeks earlier, she had been the victim of a kidnapping that shocked the nation. This is the full story of the Hearst family: George Hearst's Nevada silver fortune, William Randolph Hearst's "yellow journalism" newspaper empire, the decades-long construction of Hearst Castle at San Simeon, the family's financial reckoning during the Great Depression, the modern Hearst Corporation that still operates today, and the strange, contested true-crime chapter that made "Tania" a household name. Subscribe to The Velvet Ledger for more true stories of old money, and what happens when it runs out. #TheVelvetLedger #HearstFamily #PattyHearst #OldMoney #FamilyDynasty