Richard Kinder | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 19, 1944 |
| Education | University of Missouri (BA, JD) |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Title | Executive chairman, Kinder Morgan |
| Spouse | Nancy Kinder |
| Children | 1 |
Richard Kinder (born October 19, 1944) [1] is an American businessman. He is the co-founder and executive chairman of Kinder Morgan Inc., an energy and pipeline corporation. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Richard Kinder was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in 1944. [6] He received a BA in 1966 and a JD in 1968, both from the University of Missouri. [2] [3] [6] [7] In college, he was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. [6]
He began his career in the energy business as an attorney with Florida Gas Transmission, [4] which eventually became Enron Corporation, after a series of mergers [8] He had been friends with its founder, Kenneth Lay, in college. [4] From 1990 to December 1996, he served as its president and COO. [3] He resigned from Enron in 1996 to start a new pipeline company with college friend William V. Morgan. [4] [5] They purchased Enron Liquids Pipeline for $40 million. [4] They also merged with KN Energy. [4] After a number of acquisitions, the most prominent being El Paso Corporation, Kinder Morgan became the largest midstream energy company in North America. [9]
He is the chairman of the board of trustees of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and serves as chairman of the Kinder Foundation. He previously served as a member of the board of Baker Hughes, Transocean and Waste Management, as a national board member of the Smithsonian Institution and is a past chairman of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America. A Republican, he campaigned for Bush-Quayle in 1992, for Bush-Cheney in 2004, for John McCain in 2008, and for Kay Bailey Hutchison and Tom DeLay.
In 2014, Kinder was listed on Forbes Richest People in the US. [10] Kinder is one of seven self-made billionaires from Houston on the list, with a net worth of $11 billion. [11] In 2020, he was ranked No. 103 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America. [4] [12] [13] [14]
He is twice married, with one child from his first marriage. [7] His divorce was in 1996, the same year he left Enron. He married Nancy McNeil in September 1997. Prior to leaving Enron in 1996, McNeil was Ken Lay's assistant and was a member of Rudy Giuliani's presidential committee from 2007 to 2008. [6] [15] [16] He lives in Houston, Texas. [7]
The Kinders founded the Kinder Foundation in an effort to support Greater Houston as a model city for economic and quality of life by providing transformation grants in the areas of urban green space, education and quality of life. [17] As of December 2022, the Kinder Foundation has given more than $506.9 million in gifts. [18] [19]
Through the foundation, the Kinders donated $15 million to Rice University in 2010 to support and rename the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, formerly Rice's Institute for Urban Research. In 2022, the Kinder Foundation granted Rice another $50 million to expand the Kinder Institute's work to solve challenges facing Houston. [20]
In October 2013, it was announced that the foundation would give $50 million to the Houston Parks Board for the Bayou Greenways 2020 Project, which connects greenspaces along Houston's bayous and creates parkland. [21]
In January 2015, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston announced a $50 million gift from the Kinder Foundation for the redevelopment of the museum’s 14-acre campus. [22] In 2018, the Kinder Foundation gave an additional $25 million challenge grant to complete the capital campaign goal of $450 million. [23] In November 2020, the museum’s new Nancy and Rich Kinder Building for modern and contemporary art opened to the public. [24]
The Kinder Foundation actively supports the community development and preservation of Houston's historic Third Ward. It provided $750,000 for the Emancipation Park Conservancy's rededication of Emancipation Park in 2016, [25] $2 million in 2018 to PRH Preservation, Inc. to maintain and enhance existing buildings in the Third Ward to ensure safe, affordable housing for residents, [26] and $1.5 million to the Law Harrington Senior Living Center in July 2019 to establish an affordable independent living center for LGBTQ-affirming seniors in the Third Ward, [27] among other gifts to Third Ward organizations.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017, the foundation contributed nearly $3 million to disaster relief efforts including to the United Way of Greater Houston Relief Fund, [28] the Greater Houston Community Foundation, and also to employee relief funds to help those in Houston most impacted by the hurricane’s devastating effects.
The Kinder Foundation contributed more than $3.5 million to Houston's COVID-19 relief efforts, including $1 million to the Houston Food Bank in April 2020 [29] and $1 million to the City of Houston's second rental assistance package. [30]
Along with several other Houston philanthropies, the Kinder Foundation founded Discovery Green, downtown Houston's notable 12-acre park, in 2008. The philanthropists approached then-Mayor Bill White with an idea to acquire the Houston Center Gardens adjacent to downtown's George R. Brown Convention Center property and create a permanent downtown greenspace and public park. The Kinder Foundation contributed an initial $10 million for the park's creation. [31]
In 2010, the Kinder Foundation approached the Buffalo Bayou Partnership with a catalyst grant of $30 million of the $58 million needed for improvements to the existing 160-acre, 2.3 mile stretch of Buffalo Bayou from Shepherd Drive to Sabine Street. In 2015, Buffalo Bayou Park's enhancements were complete. [32] In September 2022, the Kinder Foundation granted $100 million to the Buffalo Bayou Partnership for Buffalo Bayou East, a 10-year, $310 million project to expand Buffalo Bayou Park from downtown to Houston’s East End. [33]
To accelerate implementation of the visionary Memorial Park Master Plan, the Kinder Foundation offered a grant of $70 million to the Memorial Park Conservancy in April 2018. [34] In February 2023, the Memorial Park Conservancy completed the Kinder Land Bridge, a 100-acre area built over several lanes of traffic underneath the park, named in the Kinders' honor. [35]
A $25 million grant from the Kinder Foundation to the University of Missouri in October 2015 went to establish the university's Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy. [36] In November 2019, the foundation granted an additional $10 million to support new degree opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students at the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy and the College of Arts and Science. [37] The Kinder Foundation gave an additional $25 million in November 2022 to expand faculty and popular program offerings, bringing the total philanthropy from Rich and Nancy Kinder and the foundation to $60 million. [38]
In 2015, Kinder and his wife Nancy donated $2 million to a Super PAC supporting Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush. [39]
River Oaks is a residential community located in the center of Houston, Texas, United States. Located within the 610 Loop and between Downtown and Uptown, the community spans 1,100 acres (450 ha). Established in the 1920s by brothers Will Hogg and Michael Hogg, the community became a well-publicized national model for community planning. Real estate values in the community range from $1 million to over $20 million. River Oaks was also named the most expensive neighborhood in Houston in 2013. The community is home to River Oaks Country Club, which includes a golf course designed by architect Donald Ross and redesigned in 2015 by Tom Fazio.
Lakshmi Niwas Mittal is Indian steel magnate, based in the United Kingdom. He is the executive chairman of ArcelorMittal, the world's second largest steelmaking company, as well as chairman of stainless steel manufacturer Aperam. Mittal owns 38% of ArcelorMittal and holds a 3% stake in EFL Championship side Queens Park Rangers.
Blase Thomas Golisano is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist.
James Harris Simons is an American hedge fund manager, investor, mathematician, and philanthropist. He is the founder of Renaissance Technologies, a quantitative hedge fund based in East Setauket, New York. He and his fund are known to be quantitative investors, using mathematical models and algorithms to make investment gains from market inefficiencies. Due to the long-term aggregate investment returns of Renaissance and its Medallion Fund, Simons is described as the "greatest investor on Wall Street", and more specifically "the most successful hedge fund manager of all time".
John Douglas Arnold is an American philanthropist, former Enron executive, and founder of Arnold Ventures LLC, formerly the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. In 2007, Arnold became the youngest billionaire in the U.S. His firm, Centaurus Advisors, LLC, was a Houston-based hedge fund specializing in trading energy products that closed in 2012. He now focuses on philanthropy through Arnold Ventures LLC. Arnold is a board member of Breakthrough Energy Ventures and since February 2024, is a member of the board of directors of Meta.
Memorial Park, a municipal park in Houston, Texas, is one of the largest urban parks in the United States. Opened 100 years ago in 1924, the park covers approximately 1,466 acres (5.9 km2) mostly inside the 610 Loop, across from the neighborhood of Memorial. Memorial Drive runs through the park, heading east to downtown Houston and west to the 610 Loop. A small portion of land west of the 610 Loop bordered by Woodway Drive and Buffalo Bayou is also part of the park. I-10/U.S. 90 borders the park to the north. The park was originally designed by landscape architects Hare & Hare of Kansas City, Missouri. In 2016, the operation of the park was transitioned from the Houston Parks and Recreation Department to the Memorial Park Conservancy, a private non-profit organization with a mission to "restore, preserve and enhance Memorial Park."
The Walton family is an American family whose collective fortune derived from Walmart makes them the richest family in the world.
David Reuben and Simon Reuben are British businessmen. In 2023, they were named as the fourth richest family in the UK by the Sunday Times Rich List with a net worth of £24.4 billion.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building in 2020, it is the 12th largest art museum in the world based on square feet of gallery space. The permanent collection of the museum spans more than 6,000 years of history with approximately 70,000 works from six continents. In 2023, the museum received over 900,000 visitors, making it the 20th most-visited museum in the United States.
David Arthur Duffield is an American billionaire businessman in the software industry. He is the co-founder and former chairman of PeopleSoft, co-founder and CEO emeritus of Workday, Inc., and current founder and co-CEO of Ridgeline, Inc. He has been on the Forbes World's Richest People list for many years.
Kenneth Lee Lay was an American businessman who was the founder, chief executive officer and chairman of Enron. He was heavily involved in Enron's accounting scandal that unraveled in 2001 into the largest bankruptcy ever to that date. Lay was indicted by a grand jury and was found guilty of 10 counts of securities fraud at trial. Lay died in July 2006 while vacationing in his house near Aspen, Colorado, three months before his scheduled sentencing. A preliminary autopsy reported Lay died of a heart attack caused by coronary artery disease. His death resulted in a vacated judgment.
Lee Marshall Bass is an American businessman and philanthropist.
Leslie Lee Alexander is an American attorney, businessman and financier. He is a former bond trader from New Jersey. He formerly owned the National Basketball Association (NBA) team Houston Rockets for 24 years, from 1993 to 2017.
Tilman Joseph Fertitta is an American billionaire businessman and television personality. He is the chairman, CEO, and owner of Landry's, Inc. He also owns the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Houston Rockets. Fertitta is chairman of the board of regents of the University of Houston System.
Ronnie Chan Chi-chung is a Hong Kong businessman.
Jeffery Hildebrand is an American billionaire businessman. He is the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Hilcorp Energy Company.
Kelcy Lee Warren is an American billionaire and the chairman and chief executive officer of Energy Transfer Partners.
The Kinder Foundation is a Houston-based 501c3 nonprofit organization. It was established in 1997 by Richard Kinder and Nancy Kinder. Since its establishment, the Kinder Foundation has committed more than $410 million in grants and transformation gifts to Houston projects.
Janice Suber McNair is the co-founder and former owner of the Houston Texans, a position which she assumed after the death of her husband Bob McNair in 2018.
Buffalo Bayou Park is a 2.3 mile long municipal park located along the banks of the Buffalo Bayou near Downtown Houston, Texas.