Wealth Howell was included on Forbes Magazine's 2006 list of the 15 richest fictional characters. Just how much money he had was never specified, but he was shown as owning several large corporations. In the pilot episode, when the radio announcer reads the names of the lost passengers, they refer to Mr Howell as a billionaire. Also when asked what happened to him during the Great Depression, his wife says that he was a billionaire, lost most of his money and "became just a millionaire." Among his assets were a diamond mine, a coconut plantation, a railroad, an oil well, and in Colorado—which included all of downtown Denver—that he bequeathed to his fellow castaways in his will. He also owned the Hatchet-Cuckoo Oil Company in Dust Bowl, Oklahoma. He tried to shove this supposedly worthless oil company on Gilligan. When he hears that an imposter is going to sell off his companies for cash, he is so enraged that he tries to swim back to the mainland three times, intent on killing the man, only to be stopped by Gilligan, the Skipper and his wife. Spin-offs Backus reprised his role in the three spin-off movies of the original series, although in the last one (The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island) Backus's declining health only allowed him to make a three-minute cameo appearance at the conclusion. Although the Howells never had any children in the original series, their son Thurston Howell IV (portrayed by David Ruprecht) is introduced in the last movie. The younger Howell's mannerisms are similar to those of his father. References External links Gilligan's Island characters Fictional Harvard University people Fictional Republicans (United States) Fictional socialites Fictional characters from Rhode Island Television characters introduced in 1964 Fictional businesspeople