L. Ron Hubbard Estate Valued at $26 Million

SAN LUIS OBISPO —  L. Ron Hubbard, the Scientology founder and author who died last year, left more than $26 million in assets, excluding trust funds, according to documents filed by the executor of his estate.

Total assets listed in the inventory amount to $26,305,706. They include “$25 million even” in copyright and trademark materials and $1,305,706 in oil, gas and business investments, said attorney Charles Ogle of Morro Bay.

The estate documents were prepared in Los Angeles by Norman F. Starkey, the executor of Hubbard’s estate. Ogle handled the filing of those documents with the San Luis Obispo county clerk’s office Friday.

Hubbard suffered a stroke and died Jan. 24, 1986, on his ranch in Creston. His will, filed in Superior Court the following February, did not detail his wealth. Hubbard signed the will the day before his death.

The listed assets do not include money Hubbard put into trust funds for his wife, four of his five children and the Church of Spiritual Technology. The amount in the trust funds is private, Ogle said.

Among the items filed with the county clerk was a four-inch-thick binder containing lists of Hubbard’s copyrighted poems, movies, books, office memos, office rules, music and choreography. There was also a binder listing patents for inventions and additional copyrights, such as for the words scientology and dianetics.

A statement issued by Starkey’s office Friday said: “As per Mr. Hubbard’s instructions, ownership of all his copyrighted works will pass to the Church of Scientology.”