Robert Kardashian formerly Robert George Kardashian was an American lawyer and businessman who lived from February 22, 1944, until September 30, 2003. During O. J. Simpson’s 1995 murder trial, he acquired notoriety as Simpson’s friend and defence attorney. With his first wife, Kris Kardashian (née Houghton, subsequently Jenner), he has four children: Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, and Rob, who star in the family reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians and its spinoffs.
Early Life
Kardashian was born on February 22, 1944, in Los Angeles, California, to Armenian American parents Arthur Kardashian (1917–2012) and Helen Jean Arakelian Kardashian (1917–2008). Barbara Kardashian Freeman was his sister, and Thomas “Tom” Kardashian was his brother. The Kardashians were Armenian Spiritual Christians from Kars Oblast, who went by the surname Kardaschoff, a Russianized variant of the Armenian surname Kardashian, because the territory, which is now part of Turkey, was once part of the Russian Empire. Once in the United States, Arthur’s father, Tatos, changed his name to Thomas and started a garbage collecting service, eventually forming his own, and marrying Hamas Shakarian, another Armenian immigrant.
Education
His family lived at 4908 Valley Ridge Avenue in the upscale View Park neighbourhood of Los Angeles County, where he grew up. Kardashian graduated from Susan Miller Dorsey High School and the University of Southern California with a B.S. degree in Business Administration in 1966. He graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law with a J.D. and practised law for approximately a decade before going into business.
Family
With his first wife, Kris Kardashian (née Houghton, subsequently Jenner), Robert Kardashian had four children: Kourtney, Kimberly, Khloé, and Rob.
Kardashian married Denice Shakarian Halicki, his third cousin and the widow of movie director H.B. Halicki, shortly after divorcing his first wife in 1991. The pair never tied the knot. Kardashian married Jan Ashley in 1998, however, the marriage was annulled 30 days later. Ashley subsequently stated that regular upheaval and strife over Kardashian’s ex-wife, Kris, and their children “played a role” in the relationship’s dissolution. Kardashian married Ellen Pierson (née Markowitz) six weeks before his death, after dating for three years and proposing in 2001.
Robert Kardashian Career and Business
Robert Kardashian practised law for a decade before venturing into business.
Kardashian co-founded the trade newspaper Radio & Records in 1973, which he and his colleagues sold for a substantial profit in 1979.
In addition, Kardashian was the first to introduce the concept of playing music in theatres between films. He went on to turn the idea into a business, forming Movie Tunes. He was the company’s president and CEO, and he later invested in Juice Inc., a frozen yoghurt company, and Concert Cinema, a music video company.
Simpson Case
Kardashian and Simpson met in 1967 while both were students at USC and became fast friends. In 1978, Simpson served as best man at Kardashian and Kris Houghton’s wedding. Kardashian worked as a water boy for the USC Trojans football team, which was rated No. 1 in the Associated Press poll.
Following the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman on June 12, 1994, Simpson sought refuge at Kardashian’s home to avoid the media. On the day Simpson travelled back from Chicago, Kardashian was seen carrying Simpson’s garment bag. The bag might have included Simpson’s bloodied clothes or the murder weapon, according to prosecutors. On June 17, 1994, after Simpson refused to show up in the court at 11 a.m., Kardashian read a letter from Simpson to the gathering press. Many people mistook this letter for a suicide note.
Simpson was accused of the killings but was cleared of all counts following a contentious criminal trial. Before the Simpson case, Kardashian had let his law licence lapse, but he revived it to work as a volunteer assistant on Simpson’s legal team, alongside Simpson’s key defence attorneys, Robert Shapiro and Johnnie Cochran. Kardashian could not be compelled to testify against Simpson in the case, which included Simpson’s prior history and conduct with his ex-wife Nicole, as well as the contents of Simpson’s garment bag because he was one of Simpson’s lawyers and a part of the defence “Dream Team.” Throughout the trial, he sat next to Simpson.
According to the New York Times, Kardashian admitted to questioning Simpson’s innocence in a 1996 ABC interview with Barbara Walters: “I have doubts. The blood evidence is the biggest thorn in my side; that causes me the greatest problems. So I struggle with the blood evidence.” Kardashian and Simpson eventually ceased communicating with one another.
Robert Kardashian’s Net Worth
Robert Kardashian was an American lawyer and businessman with a $30 million net worth at death.
Robert Kardashian’s net worth stems from his 10 years as an attorney, following which he moved into business before returning to law to help in the O.J. Simpson case.
He made good money, drive the most expensive automobiles and lived in the most opulent homes, and everything about him appeared to be fancy and affluent.
However, many things remain hidden behind closed doors, namely Robert Kardashian’s tireless efforts to attain this degree of fame and acclaim. A well-known American lawyer and businessman who attended the USC Marshall School of Business.
Robert Kardashian Death
In July 2003, Kardashian was diagnosed with esophageal cancer (cancer of the throat or esophagus cancer). He died two months later, on September 30, 2003, at the age of 59, at his home in Encino, Los Angeles, and was interred in Inglewood Park Cemetery.
Robert Kardashian was a tenacious lawyer and a wealthy businessman. Unfortunately, he did not get to enjoy his prosperous life for as long as he would have liked.
He also missed out on seeing his children grow up and become famous. Let us hope that his name and work will be recognised in the future.
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