Harry Brakmann Helmsley (March 4, 1909 – January 4, 1997) was an American real estate billionaire whose company, Helmsley-Spear, became one of the country's biggest property holders, owning the Empire State Building and many of New York's most prestigious hotels.

The family could not afford a college education, but his grandfather got him a job as an office boy in a real estate firm, Dwight, Voorhis & Perry, where he showed a keen talent for the business and was made a partner.

In the early stages of his career, his portfolio consisted mainly of smaller properties in less-affluent parts of New York City, though it was extensive and highly profitable.

[4] Helmsley's success was attributed largely to a gift for salesmanship, a willingness to delegate authority, and a less-usual acquisition policy of long-term fixed-rate mortgages during a slump and cash purchases when interest rates were low.

She was a high-profile manager, dynamic but abrasive ("Queen of Mean"), and she demanded a luxurious lifestyle, quite unlike the modest private life he had been living until then.

Partly due to Leona's extravagant plans and frequent demands for changes, the cost of the building skyrocketed, and it was proved that they had contracted some work out to their own subsidiaries at inflated prices.

By this time, Harry was judged too frail to plead but Leona served 18 months in prison, in addition to being heavily fined.

Helmsley died of pneumonia at age 87 at a hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona, and left all of his empire ($5.5 billion) to his wife, Leona.