She once owned jewelry that had draped Marie Antoinette and a fortune worth nearly a billion dollars in today’s terms, yet she died in a hotel room with only a few thousand dollars to her name. This episode looks past the tabloid nickname to examine the deeply human and tragic life of Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton.

We explore the mechanics of her wealth, the psychology of her isolation, and how extreme fortune became a magnet for exploitation.

• Her inheritance from the Woolworth and Hutton empires and the death of her mother when she was four.
• The tone-deaf debutante ball thrown during the Great Depression that turned the press against her.
• Her seven marriages, including manipulative and abusive unions and her one genuine partnership with Cary Grant.
• Her compulsive collecting of titles, art and jewelry, including grinding down a priceless diamond to suit her taste.
• The death of her son Lance in 1972 and the rapid collapse of her fortune before her death in 1979.