U-Haul's founder lost his company to his sons, a daughter-in-law was shot dead, and a jury awarded his side $1.47 billion

L.S. Shoen founded U-Haul in 1945 and gave most of his shares to his 13 children. By 1988 the children had split into two camps. His son Joe Shoen won control when AMERCO issued 8,099 treasury shares to friendly executives, tipping the vote. On August 6, 1990, Eva Berg Shoen, wife of Sam Shoen of the founder's faction, was found shot dead in the family's Telluride home. The founder publicly accused his sons Joe and Mark of involvement. They sued him for libel, and a federal jury denied them damages. In 1994 an ex-convict, Frank Marquis, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, said it was a botched burglary, and received 24 years. The same year a jury returned a $1.47 billion verdict against Joe Shoen and five other AMERCO directors over the 1988 share issue. A judge cut it to $461.8 million, and AMERCO paid it under an indemnity agreement, so the company paid for its own directors. The founder died in 1999 when his car hit a pole in Las Vegas; the coroner ruled it a suicide^†. Joe Shoen still runs the company, now U-Haul Holding, in 2026^†.