As attention intensifies around the white metal’s meteoric rise, now commanding over $100 per ounce in many global physical markets, comparisons to the infamous Hunt brothers’ silver saga of 1980 are emerging. But analysts, traders, and even industry veterans argue that today’s rally is nothing like the past.
The silver frenzy of 1980, led by two Texas oil magnates, Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Herbert Hunt, is considered one of the most audacious attempts to corner a commodity market in modern financial history. But the forces driving silver’s rally today in 2026 couldn’t be more different and potentially far more sustainable.
Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Herbert Hunt were scions of the Hunt family dynasty, children of Haroldson Lafayette “H.L.” Hunt, one of America’s first oil billionaires. When H.L. Hunt passed away in 1974, he left a fortune estimated at $5 billion to his heirs, much of it in oil, land, and other hard assets.
Distrustful of fiat currencies and banking institutions, the Hunt brothers inherited their father’s financial conservatism and belief in hard assets. As the 1970s U.S. economy grappled with stagflation, oil crises, and declining faith in the dollar, the Hunt brothers had a revelation: if inflation continued to spiral, precious metals, especially silver, could become a financial lifeboat. And so began one of the boldest commodity trades in history.
Their initial silver purchases in the early 1970s were modest, with silver trading at approximately $1.50 to $2.00 per ounce. But as inflation fears mounted and confidence in the U.S. dollar waned, the brothers’ investment escalated rapidly. By the mid-to-late 1970s, the Hunts weren’t just buying silver; they were hoarding it. They preferred physical metal over paper contracts, famously shipping millions of ounces of bullion to secure vaults in Switzerland. To maintain their momentum, they also began acquiring large positions in silver futures contracts through commodities brokers such as Bache Halsey Stuart and Prudential-Bache Securities.
By early 1980, the Hunt brothers had amassed an impressive portfolio of silver, controlling approximately 195 million ounces through various physical and futures holdings. This massive accumulation represented about one-third of the entire world’s known supply of silver outside of government stocks. As a result of their bold strategy and ambitious scale, the price of silver experienced a dramatic surge, rising from $6 per ounce in early 1979 to an unprecedented $48.70 in January 1980, a nearly 700% increase in just twelve months. A financial short squeeze largely drove this surge, as other investors and suppliers rushed to buy silver to meet their obligations. This frantic demand only served to propel prices even higher, with the market seemingly in freefall toward the Hunts’ overwhelming control.
Unlike most buyers of silver futures contracts, the Hunt brothers didn’t just want paper profits. They wanted physical delivery. This forced COMEX, the Commodity Exchange of New York, to supply actual bars of silver, straining the exchange’s ability to deliver and escalating the market frenzy.
Planes packed with silver flew to Switzerland under heavy guard. Security and transportation costs soared. In essence, the Hunts weren’t just betting on silver; they were backing their conviction with physical possession, adding legitimacy and fear to their position.
Their motives were widely regarded as economic and philosophical. They believed the U.S. dollar was doomed and wanted to protect their wealth through tangible, globally recognized assets. But as their holdings grew and media attention intensified, critics accused the brothers of attempting to manipulate and monopolize the silver market.
The changes introduced by Silver Rule 7 dealt a devastating blow to the Hunt brothers’ strategy, as their empire was heavily leveraged. As silver prices began to tumble from their peak of $48.70 in January, the Hunts found themselves spiraling into a financial death spiral. By late March, they could no longer meet their margin calls—these were the additional funds required by brokers to sustain their positions. On March 27, 1980, a day that would be remembered as Silver Thursday, silver prices collapsed by more than 50% in a single day, plummeting from $21.62 to $10.80 per ounce.
The Hunts’ once-multibillion-dollar silver holdings lost nearly all of their value, leading them to default on over $100 million in margin calls. In total, their estimated paper losses amounted to $7 billion. As concerns mounted over broader financial contagion, banks intervened with a $1.1 billion bailout to avert a systemic crash. In the aftermath, the Hunt brothers were forced to liquidate a variety of assets, including oil leases, real estate, antiques, and personal belongings such as Rolex watches and high-end vehicles. Ultimately, Bunker Hunt declared individual bankruptcy in 1988, followed closely by William Herbert Hunt.
As a result of the scandal, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) took significant steps to strengthen regulations in commodity trading. They implemented stricter position limits to prevent future attempts to corner the market. Additionally, exchanges such as COMEX tightened their rules regarding both physical delivery and leveraged positions. This increased oversight led to an unprecedented level of scrutiny of silver trading, fundamentally altering the commodity market landscape.
Today, the Hunt brothers’ failed attempt to control the silver market serves as one of the greatest cautionary tales in financial history. Their actions nearly destabilized the U.S. economic system, ushered in sweeping regulatory reforms, and left a lasting imprint on commodity market operations.
Yet despite the chaos they caused, the Hunt brothers never admitted wrongdoing. They claimed that their investment in silver was not an attempt to manipulate the market, but a strategic hedge against a crumbling dollar and runaway inflation.
In hindsight, some of their instincts were valid, as fiat currencies did lose purchasing power dramatically through the 1970s and beyond. But their approach, concentrated, highly leveraged, and aggressive, magnified risk and ultimately left them trapped under their own market-making weight.
The Hunt brothers’ silver saga remains one of the most riveting dramas in modern finance. They came dangerously close to cornering a precious metal critical to industry and culture, bent margin rules to their favor, and nearly brought the U.S. commodities market to its knees.
Their story is not just about greed or speculation; it is a parable on the power and peril of leverage, a reflection of deep economic fear in a time of inflation, and a testament to what can happen when two men, armed with billions, believe they can buy the world’s silver and shape the market in their image.