HAULAGE firm colossus Eddie Stobart left just £4,471 to wife Nora after his death at 95.
It is a mystery why the trucking magnate, whose name was on thousands of green and red lorries, had so little when he died in November.
It was his son Edward who built the business.
He took the reins from Eddie in 1973, when he was just 21, and transformed the haulage company into a multimillion-pound empire.
Eddie, who retired to Carlisle, once said: “I never aimed to devote my life to work. I’m laid-back compared to Edward.
“I used to think to myself, what’s the point of all his worry and rush? We are here to serve God, not Mammon (money).
“Board meetings consisted of me sitting in an armchair at home while Edward was ringing me from somewhere on the M6 telling me what he was doing.”
Eddie Stobart was said to have told people he would never have set up a business under his own name if he had known how big and famous it would become.
He was a deeply religious man, who let his son Edward build the business to a point where it operated more than 2,000 lorries, all of which were given individual names.
The company built up a reputation for well-maintained, high-quality vehicles, with uniformed drivers, and benefited from the huge rise in road haulage.
Eddie was said to have been content running a modest business distributing fertiliser, doing contract work for local farmers, running a farm shop and wheeling and dealing at local agricultural auctions.
But with Edward in the driving seat, the family business was worth around £100million – before hitting tough times in the early 2000s.
Eddie was said to have been saddened when his son sold the business in 2004 and the subsequent financial struggles of the firm.
He sold the firm to his brother, William, and his business partner, Andrew Tinkler.
Edward was £220,000 in debt when he died in March 2011 from a suspected heart attack.
He was just 56 years old and passed away with his wife, Mandy, and two of their six children at his bedside.
William’s son, also called Edward, has managed to live a private life but is married to influencer Ashley Stobart.
Ashley rarely indulges her 83,000 followers with details of her love life, instead shares videos with make up tips and general lifestyle content.
