US media mogul and banker Allbritton dies at 87

WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - Mr Joe Lewis Allbritton, a media mogul and owner of the scandal-plagued Riggs National Bank, died on Wednesday at a hospital in Houston. He was 87.

The Mississippi native's media empire included newspapers throughout the US Northeast and ABC network affiliates.

Mr Allbritton's son, Robert, recently founded the influential political publication Politico.

But Mr Allbritton was famously known for owning and running Riggs, the Washington-based bank that had been a dominant force in diplomatic banking in the nation's capital.