Editing William Randolph Hearst (section)

== Final years and death ==
After the disastrous financial losses of the 1930s, the Hearst Company returned to profitability during the Second World War, when advertising revenues skyrocketed. Hearst, after spending much of the war at his estate of [[Wyntoon]], returned to San Simeon full-time in 1945 and resumed building works. He also continued collecting, on a reduced scale. He threw himself into philanthropy by donating a great many works to the [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art]].<ref name="Victoria Kastner 2000" />

In 1947, Hearst left his San Simeon estate to seek medical care, which was unavailable in the remote location. He died in Beverly Hills on August 14, 1951, at the age of 88.<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-william-randolph-hearst-19510815-story.html "From the Archives: W. R. Hearst, 88, Dies in Beverly Hills"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215182803/https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-william-randolph-hearst-19510815-story.html |date=December 15, 2019 }} (original pub. August 15, 1951). ''Los Angeles Times''.  Retrieved from LATimes.com September 15, 2018.</ref> He was interred in the Hearst family mausoleum at the [[Cypress Lawn Memorial Park]] in Colma, California, which his parents had established.

His will established two charitable trusts, the Hearst Foundation and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. By his amended will, Marion Davies inherited 170,000 shares in the Hearst Corporation, which, combined with a [[trust fund]] of 30,000 shares that Hearst had established for her in 1950, gave her a controlling interest in the corporation.<ref name="Victoria Kastner 2000" /> This was short-lived, as she relinquished the 170,000 shares to the Corporation on October 30, 1951, retaining her original 30,000 shares and a role as an advisor. Like their father, none of Hearst's five sons graduated from college.{{sfn|Nasaw|2000|pp=[https://archive.org/details/chieflifeofwilli0000nasa/page/357 357–58]}} They all followed their father into the media business, and Hearst's namesake, [[William Randolph Hearst Jr.|William Randolph Jr.]], became a [[Pulitzer Prize]]–winning newspaper reporter.