Steve Bing, the famous Hollywood producer and founder of Shangri-La Entertainment, died by suicide on Monday. Bing reportedly jumped from the 27th floor of his apartment building in Los Angeles’ Century City, according to TMZ.
Sources close to Bing claimed that he had been suffering from depression before he died. These sources claimed his depression was caused by loneliness experienced during the coronavirus quarantine. However, it was not clear if his suicide was the direct result of the alleged quarantine-related depression.
Steven Bing was the son of Helen, a nurse, and Peter Bing, a medical doctor.
He reportedly dropped out of Stanford University to start his Hollywood career after inheriting $600 million from his New York real estate developer grandfather, Leo S. Bing.
Steve Bing was known for writing movies such as Kangaroo Jack. He also executive produced big scree hits, with Every Breath and Get Carter, starring Sylvester Stallone, among them.
Speculation that his sudden death could spark court fights by potential heirs quickly spread after news of his death broke.
Steve is known to have had out-of-wedlock children with former tennis player Lisa Bonder and actress Elizabeth Hurley. He shared daughter Kira Kerkorian Bing with Lisa Bonder and son Damian Hurley with actress Elizabeth Hurley.
Bing was never married to either Bonder or Hurley.
Steve’s father Peter Bing did not want Kira to inherit the family fortune
Steve Bing’s death comes after Daily Mail reported in March of last year that Steve’s father, Dr. Peter Bing, filed a petition. In it, he asked a judge to block Steve’s daughter, Kira Kerkorian Bing, from gaining access to the trust fund he set up for his grandchildren.
Peter Bing’s petition, reportedly filed in L.A. County, requested that the court clarify the meaning of the term “grandchild,” as used in the trust documents. Peter Bing claimed he did not intend the word to include children born out of wedlock and who were not raised by the Bing family.
Peter reportedly filed the petition after Kira claimed that she was a beneficiary of the trust and after she tried to obtain relevant information about the trust.
Peter Bing set up the trust in 1980 to benefit his grandchildren.
Lisa Bonder originally claimed that Kira was the daughter of the billionaire Armenian-American casino tycoon and philanthropist Kirk Kerkorian. Bonder was married to Kerkorian for about a month in 1999 and Kerkorian raised Kira as his daughter
Kerkorian died in 2015 at the age of 98. Kira received $8.5 million from Kerkorian’s estate in 2016 even though a DNA test showed she was actually Steve Bing’s daughter.
Peter Bing also tried to block Elizabeth Hurley’s son from his trust
Peter Bing also wanted to block Damian — Steve’s son with actress Elizabeth Hurley — from his trust fund because he was also born out of wedlock and because he was not raised by his father.
Steve initially denied that Damian was his son. However, a DNA test proved he was the biological father of Hurley’s son.
L.A. judge rejected Peter Bing’s petition
L.A. judge Daniel Juarez rejected Peter Bing’s petition in a July 2019 ruling.
Judge Juarez ruled that Kira and Damian were beneficiaries of Peter Bing’s trust and that he could not cut them out through the petition in which he tried to clarify what the trust meant by “grandchild.”
Judge Juarez insisted that the term “grandchild’ was ambiguous and that it applied to Steve’s children born out of wedlock.
Steve opposed his father’s efforts. He also accused his sister, Mary, of colluding with their father to cut his children, Kira and Damian, from the family’s inheritance.
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