T. Boone Pickens facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
T. Boone Pickens
|
|
|---|---|
Pickens at the 2011 Time 100 gala
|
|
| Born |
Thomas Boone Pickens Jr.
May 22, 1928 |
| Died | September 11, 2019 (aged 91) Dallas, Texas, US
|
| Alma mater | Oklahoma State University (BS) |
| Occupation | Chairman of BP Capital Management |
| Spouse(s) |
Lynn O'Brien
(m. 1949; div. 1971)Beatrice Carr
(m. 1972; div. 1998)Nelda Cain
(m. 2000; div. 2004)Madeleine Paulson
(m. 2005; div. 2012)Toni Brinker
(m. 2014; div. 2017) |
| Children | 5 |
Thomas Boone Pickens Jr. (born May 22, 1928 – died September 11, 2019) was a famous American businessman and investor. He led a special type of investment company called a hedge fund named BP Capital Management. Pickens was well-known in the 1980s for buying and selling parts of other companies. He was a very successful person in the business world.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Boone Pickens was born in Holdenville, Oklahoma. His father worked in the oil business, finding places where oil might be. His mother helped ration gasoline and other goods during World War II. Pickens was the first baby born by Caesarean section in his hometown hospital.
When he was 12, Pickens delivered newspapers. He quickly grew his paper route from 28 papers to 156. He later said this job taught him early on how to grow a business quickly by buying out smaller ones.
After the oil boom in Oklahoma ended, his family moved to Amarillo, Texas. Pickens went to Texas A&M University on a basketball scholarship. However, he was cut from the team and lost his scholarship. He then transferred to Oklahoma State University, where he studied geology. He graduated in 1951. After college, he worked for Phillips Petroleum for a few years. In 1956, he started his own company, which later became Mesa Petroleum.
Business Career
By 1981, Mesa Petroleum had become one of the biggest independent oil companies in the world. Pickens led Mesa's first big purchase, taking over Hugoton Production Company. This company was 30 times bigger than Mesa. He then focused on buying other oil and gas companies.
Pickens became famous in the 1980s for his company takeovers. Some of his well-known attempts included buying parts of Cities Service, Gulf Oil, Phillips Petroleum, and Unocal. He successfully bought Pioneer Petroleum and parts of Tenneco.
Pickens became very well known after the Gulf Oil takeover. Time magazine even put him on its cover in March 1985. He was sometimes called a "corporate raider" because he would try to buy companies. Even if a deal didn't go through, Pickens and the people he represented often made a lot of money by selling their stock (shares of the company).
In 1996, Mesa Petroleum faced financial problems and was sold. Pickens left the company. In 1997, Pickens started a new company called BP Capital Management. This company was very successful, especially in investing in energy companies. He closed the company in 2018 as his health declined.
In 2009, Pickens received an award for his 50 years of leadership in energy. This included his work with oil and his support for renewable energy. He was also recognized for his generous donations to education, medical research, and wildlife.
Natural Gas and Energy
Pickens believed in using natural gas to power vehicles in the United States. He started Pickens Fuel Corporation in 1997 to promote natural gas as a fuel. This company, later called Clean Energy Fuels Corporation, now runs natural gas fueling stations across North America.
He also supported building more nuclear power plants and promoting alternative energy sources like wind and solar.
Political Activities
Pickens gave a lot of money to political campaigns, mostly to Republican candidates. He supported President George W. Bush and contributed to his campaigns. He also supported Rudy Giuliani for president in 2007.
Pickens became a strong supporter of alternative energy like solar and wind. He believed that the U.S. needed to reduce its reliance on foreign oil. He worked with politicians from both parties to push for energy changes.
Giving Back (Philanthropy)
Pickens gave away more than $700 million to charity during his life. Nearly $500 million of this went to Oklahoma State University. He was one of the billionaires who joined "The Giving Pledge." This is a promise to give away at least half of their wealth to good causes.
Oklahoma State University Donations
Pickens was a huge supporter of his old university, Oklahoma State University (OSU). He gave the largest donation ever to a university's athletic program. His total gifts to OSU were over $1 billion. A big part of this went to athletics, but he also made large donations to academic programs, like the Boone Pickens School of Geology, which is named after him.
In 2005, Pickens made a $165 million gift to OSU. This money was used to improve the football stadium and build an athletic village. He also made other large donations to the university, helping to fund many projects.
Other Contributions
Pickens and his company's employees donated $7 million to help with the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. He also helped transport dogs rescued from the floods in New Orleans.
He gave $5 million to Texas Woman's University for a health sciences center. He also donated $100 million to two University of Texas health care institutions for medical research. Pickens supported schools for at-risk children and donated to the Downtown Dallas YMCA, which was renamed in his honor.
In 2010, he donated over $11 million to The University of Texas at Dallas Center for Brain Health. This money helps fund research into brain science.
Energy Ideas
Pickens often spoke about the future of energy. In 2007, he predicted that the price of oil would rise to $100 per barrel. He believed that demand was going up while supply was staying the same. He also said that natural gas would always be cheaper than diesel and gasoline for vehicles.
Wind Power
In 2007, Pickens announced plans to build one of the world's largest wind farms in the Texas Panhandle. His company, Mesa Power LP, planned to install many wind turbines to produce a lot of electricity. This project would have been much larger than any existing wind farm at the time.
He ordered hundreds of wind turbines from General Electric. The state of Texas also approved funding for new power lines to connect these wind farms to the electric grid. However, in 2009, Pickens postponed his plans for the large Texas wind farm. He said it was partly because there weren't enough transmission lines available. Later, he decided to focus more on natural gas because its prices were low, making wind power seem too expensive for utility companies.
The Pickens Plan
In 2008, Pickens announced a big energy plan called the Pickens Plan. This plan aimed to greatly reduce the United States' reliance on foreign oil. A main part of the plan was to switch the country's commercial trucks and vehicles from diesel to natural gas.
The Pickens Plan also suggested using the strong winds in the middle of the U.S. to generate more wind energy. He believed this would create new jobs and boost the economy. Pickens spent a lot of money to promote his plan through TV ads, newspapers, and social media. Environmental groups like the Sierra Club supported parts of his plan.
Personal Life and Death
Pickens was married five times and had five children. He had four biological children and one adopted daughter. He also had twelve grandchildren.
Pickens died at his home in Dallas on September 11, 2019. He had been in declining health after suffering strokes and a fall in 2017. Before he passed away, he shared a personal message about his life and the lessons he learned.
Images for kids
-
Pickens at the 2011 Time 100 gala
-
Boone Pickens Stadium at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
