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EspañolT. BOONE PICKENS, JR.
'Thomas Boone Pickens, Jr.' (born May 22, 1928) is an American businessman who chairs the private equity firm BP Capital Management. He was a well-known takeover artist during the 1980s. With an estimated current net worth of around $2.5 billion, he is ranked by ''Forbes'' as the 131-richest person in America and ranked #369 in the World.
Early years
Pickens was born in Holdenville, Oklahoma. His father worked in the oil
business as an oil and mineral rights leaser (Petroleum Landman), and his mother ran the Office of Price Administration during World War II, rationing
gasoline and other goods for four counties.[1] As his mother was about to give birth to Boone, doctors told his father that complications had arisen, and that they could save only Boone or his mother. His father refused to accept the doctors' decision, and finally directed that they perform the first Caesarean section in the history of the Holdenville hospital. His mother survived.[2]
Pickens was born during the depression and although money was tight his family always had food on the table. "My grandmother kept a large garden and some nights we had meat to go with the vegetables and some nights we didn’t, but we never went hungry. My mother and grandmother were frugal people, and they felt it was a real privilege to work and have a job. So I always worked." [1]
Pickens delivered newspapers as an 11-year old boy and quickly expanded his newspaper route from 28 papers to 156. "I did that not by getting new customers," says Pickens, "but by merging with routes that were contiguous to me. That was my first introduction to expanding quickly by acquisition—a talent I would perfect in my later years."[2]
In the late 1930's the oil boom in Oklahoma was ending and Pickens' father decided to move the family to Amarillo, Texas. Pickens didn't want to move but eventually adjusted to the larger city, helped in part by his skill at basketball and a coach who inspired him. "He told us to play every game for all we’re worth," says Pickens, "but when the game’s over, it’s over. That taught me not to dwell too much on my losses or successes." [3]
Pickens attended Texas A&M on a basketball scholarship but lost the scholarship [4] and transferred to Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University), joining Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He graduated from Oklahoma A&M with a degree in geology in 1951.
The 1950s were difficult times for the oil industry and petroleum geologists. [5] After graduation Pickens was unemployed for a time and asked then Oklahoma State basketball coach Henry Iba for help. Iba set Pickens up with two interviews for high-school basketball coaching jobs but he wanted something in return. "If I get a job for you, you've got to send me a player," Pickens said Iba told him. Although Pickens didn't end up becoming a coach, the favor Iba did for him was the impetus behind Pickens' decision 50 years later to make a $165 million donation to Oklahoma State University's athletic program. "Mr. Iba, he would be very, very happy with my performance," Pickens said. [6]
Pickens finally got a job working for Phillips Petroleum and was one of only seven in his graduating class who found an oil-related job.[7] He stayed with Phillips until 1954. After a period as a wildcatter, he struck out on his own founding the company that became Mesa Petroleum in 1956.[3]
The mergers and acquisitions years
Pickens was one of the first independent oilmen to grow his company by acquisitions rather than by just exploration. Before reaching the age of 40, Pickens led Mesa's first big acquisition, the Hugoton Production Company, which was 30 times the size of Mesa.[4]
By 1981, Mesa had grown into one of the largest independent oil companies in the world, and Pickens shifted his focus to acquiring other oil and gas companies. He spent much of the decade targeting undervalued companies, making solicited and unsolicited buyout bids and other merger and acquisition activity. This made Pickens a celebrity during the 'deal-making' 80s. His most publicized deals included attempted buyouts of Cities Service, Gulf Oil, Phillips Petroleum, and Unocal.[5]
Boone Pickens Mar 4, 1985
On the local level, Pickens chaired the Board of Regents of West Texas State University and the Potter County, Texas Republican Party. Pickens organized a campaign in the mid-1980s against the local newspaper in Amarillo, Texas, for what he claimed was inaccurate reporting about his deals and Mesa. His attempts to have the newspaper owner, Morris Communications, change editorial policy to treat Pickens more favorably were famously rebuffed. Shortly thereafter, in 1989, Pickens and Mesa moved to Dallas.[7]
Contributions and donations
Political Interests and Contributions
Since 1980, Pickens has contributed over $5 million in political donations.[8]
Pickens and friend and fellow financier Harold Clark Simmons are financial supporters of President George W. Bush, having contributed heavily to both his Texas and national political campaigns. In 2004, Pickens contributed generously to 527 conservative groups, including a $3 million contribution for the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth attacking Bush's rival, John Kerry, and $2.5 million to the Progress for America advocacy group. In 2006, contributions from Pickens, Simmons and Houston homebuilder Bob Perry made up approximately 62% of the funding of Stop Her Now, a conservative group whose proposed intent is to derail the potential presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton.[9] Pickens made a $250,000 contribution for Bush's second inaugural celebration.
On July 16, 2007 Pickens wrote an article for the National Review supporting Rudy Guiliani for President. "In Rudy Giuliani, a gracious and committed public servant I’ve known for many years, we see that rare blend of big-picture vision and proven track record of achieving the “impossible.” We see a forward-looking, accomplished executive eager to tackle the challenges of today’s America and ensure that tomorrow we wake up stronger, freer, and more united than ever before."[10] Pickens is an executive-committee member of the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee.
Humanitarian contributions
Pickens and employees of his BP Capital LLC donated $7 million to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. The ''Chronicle of Philanthropy'' listed Pickens as the fifth-largest charitable giver in 2005. He has donated nearly a half a billion dollars to philanthropic causes during his career.
On May 16, 2007, Pickens donated $100 million to two University of Texas health care institutions. The gifts were donated to the UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The donations are required to grow to $1 billion within twenty-five years before they can be disbursed by the recipient institutions.
On August 23, 2007 Bizjournals.com reported that Pickens is donating $2.5 million to Happy Hill Farm Academy/Home, a residential school for at-risk children and teenagers, to build a training center and guest lodge. Pickens donated $1 million to Happy Hill Farm for the construction of a new academic campus at the residential school in February, 2007. [11]
Donations to Oklahoma State University
Boone Pickens Stadium at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma
In recent years, Pickens has focused his energy on his alma mater, the Stillwater campus of Oklahoma State University (OSU). Through his tax-deductible contributions, Pickens has spearheaded an effort to create an athletic village just north of the existing campus. In order to do so, hundreds of homes were purchased by the OSU administration using Pickens' contributions. As a result, Oklahoma State will have world-class athletic facilities. Pickens' gift remains the largest donation to a university's athletic program in collegiate history. His total contributions to OSU come to over $290 million dollars. Over $265 million, or 92%, of his donations have been towards athletics. Pickens also has made substantial academic gifts to Oklahoma State University, particularly to the School of Geology, which is named for him.
On December 30, 2005, Pickens made a $165 million gift to Oklahoma State University. The ''New York Times'' reported that "the money spent less than an hour on December 30 in the account of the university's charity, O.S.U. Cowboy Golf Inc., before it was invested in a hedge fund controlled by Mr. Pickens, BP Capital Management." [12] Pickens, who is on the board of the O.S.U. Cowboy Golf, waived any management fees for the OSU monies (although this agreement was not reduced to writing), however, and all profits of the fund go to growing the OSU gift. The gift is intended to help fund an upgrade of the football stadium and construction of an athletic village, but sparked controversy because OSU planned to use eminent domain to acquire residential property for the projects. [13] The donation comes after a $70 million gift from Pickens to OSU in 2003, which was similarly structured using O.S.U. Cowboy Golf, Inc. [14] On ESPN's ''Pardon the Interruption'', Michael Wilbon said that after these gifts, Pickens "is now the owner of Oklahoma State athletics", and remarked that "no coach should dare run afoul of Pickens now...He's got everyone in Stillwater in his pocket, which is dangerous."
On July 28, 2007 the Board of Regents of Oklahoma State University approved a resolution to move $28 million from the OSU Foundation into Pickens' BP Capital Management company in Dallas. Oklahoma State has previously invested $277 million in the fund. Pickens has been waiving fees for the university's investments with his fund. [15]
Recent interests
Hedge fund management
Pickens founded BP Capital and has a 46% interest in the company which runs two hedge funds, Capital Commodity and Capital Equity, both of which invest primarily in oil and natural gas. In 2006 Pickens earned $990 million from his equity in the two funds and $120 million from his share of the 20% fees applied to fund profits.[16]
Natural gas as an alternative fuel
Pickens has begun speaking out on the issue of Peak Oil, claiming that world oil production is about to enter a period of irrevocable decline. He has called for the construction of more nuclear power plants, the use of natural gas to power the country's transportation systems, and the promotion of alternative energy.
Pickens' involvement with the natural gas fueling campaign is long-running. He formed Pickens Fuel Corp. in 1997 and began touting natural gas as the best vehicular fuel alternative because it's a domestic resource that, among many advantages, is clean (Natural Gas Vehicles or NGVs emit up to 95% less pollution than gasoline or diesel vehicles) and reduces foreign oil consumption. Reincorporated as Clean Energy in 2001, the company now owns and operates natural gas fueling stations from British Columbia to the Mexican border.
Trip to China
On July 20, 2007 the Wall Street Journal reported that Pickens, on his first trip to China, has announced that he is looking find a local partner to set up a chain of retail natural-gas fueling stations in China. "Natural gas is cheaper and better for transportation," he told reporters in Beijing.[17]
The Dallas Morning News reported on August 1, 2007 that Pickens, back from his trip to China, had not made a deal to supply natural gas. "That's a long way to go when you've got plenty of deals in your own back yard to hunt for," said Pickens. Pickens added that his most lasting impression of Beijing was the smog. "Air quality is horrible. It was worse than I've ever seen in Los Angeles, even on its worst days 40 years ago. If they'd had the Olympics when I was there, that 100-yard dash would have been a relay." [18]
World's largest wind farm
In June 2007, Pickens announced that he intends to build the world's largest wind farm by installing large wind turbines in parts of four Panhandle counties. The project would produce up to four thousand megawatts of electricity. Pickens' Mesa Power LP will undertake the construction. If completed, the farm would generate more than five times the 735 megawatts produced at the present largest such farm near Abilene, according to Susan Williams Sloan, spokesman for the American Wind Energy Association.[9]
On August 16, 2007 Pickens' Mesa Power announced that it had filed documents with the state of Texas to add four thousand megawatts of electricity to the state grid. The filing with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) projected that the project would be completed in 2011 and would include up to 2,700 turbines on up to 200,000 acres in Roberts and adjacent counties in the Texas Panhandle. "We are now meeting with Panhandle landowners and negotiating wind lease and easement agreements," said Pickens. "We are excited at how quickly the pieces are falling into place." [10]
Water rights
Pickens has recently begun buying up subsurface water rights in Texas. Pickens' new company, Mesa Water, bought ground water rights for 200,000 acres (800 km²) in Roberts County, Texas for $75 million and over a 30-year period expects to make more than $1 billion on his investment. Pickens wants to take the water from the Ogallala Aquifer and pump it to El Paso, Lubbock, San Antonio or Dallas-Fort Worth. [19]
Personal life and interests
Pickens lives in the Preston Hollow neighborhood of north Dallas and owns a ranch along the Canadian River in the Texas Panhandle.
He is married to Madeleine Pickens, widow of renowned Thoroughbred racehorse owner Allen E. Paulson. Pickens and his wife are self professed animal rights advocates. He is currently lobbying for the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (HR 503) which will prohibit the slaughter of 100,000 horses for human consumption and the trade and transport of horseflesh and live horses intended for human consumption.[11]
Pickens was divorced from Beatrice Carr and from Lynn O'Brien.
Pickens has five children and twelve grandchildren.[20] One of Pickens' sons, Michael O'Brien Pickens, was arrested and charged with securities fraud, a "pump and dump" scam using junk faxes, in July 2005 [21]. Michael pled guilty in October of 2006. [22]
External links
★ Biography of Boone Pickens (Horatio Alger Awards)
★ CBS News on Pickens water deal
★ T. Boone and Madeleine Pickens among the hundreds of leading individuals and organizations supporting the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act
★ Oracle of Oil: Boone Pickens Predicts Higher Oil Prices
★ Controversial nature of Boone's Gift to OSU challenged
★ Pickens gives $165 million to Oklahoma State
★ Billionaire Gives a Big Gift But Still Gets To Invest It, ''New York Times'', February 24, 2006
★ Document: OSU Planned Eminent Domain Use, KOCO News 5, February 20, 2006
★ Pickens' Investments Earn OSU Millions, ''Daily Oklahoman'', December 4, 2005
★ Comics by Stillwater residents in protest of Pickens' campus takeover
★ Donation(s) to Swift Boat Vets and POWs for Truth and other political donations
References
★ Forbes 400
★ Recent article profile at Globe & Mail
★ Raider to trader
★ Bio from BP Capital
Notes
1. http://www.utsystem.edu/news/2007/PickensBio.pdf
2. Wieberg, Steve. "Tycoon's 5M gift to Oklahoma State raises both hopes and questions", ''USA Today'', August 15, 2006.
3. Boone, , T. Boone, Pickens, Houghton Mifflin, 1987, ISBN 0-395-41433-4 pp. 22-41.
4. Boone, , T. Boone, Pickens, Houghton Mifflin, 1987, ISBN 0-395-41433-4 p. 73.
5. Boone, , T. Boone, Pickens, Houghton Mifflin, 1987, ISBN 0-395-41433-4 pp. 149-260.
6. http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19850304,00.html Mar 4, 1985
7. http://www.famoustexans.com/boonepickens.htm
8. http://www.famoustexans.com/boonepickens.htm
9. http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/061407/nat_061407027.shtml
10. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-16-2007/0004647032&EDATE=
11. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/4171519.html
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