 This was at a time that Hughes was the wealthiest man in the world.Although Robert Maheu, a known Hughes confidante, who admitted he himself had never actually met Hughes, Meier was associated with Howard Hughes for 15 years and was one of the few in the reclusive Hughes's inner circle to have met with him regularly.Meier was publicised as someone closely involved in Hughes's business operations and leveraged his connections to the industrialist.