Richard Kinder
Born (1944-10-19) October 19, 1944
Cape Girardeau, Missouri, US
EducationUniversity of Missouri (BA, JD)
OccupationBusinessman
TitleExecutive chairman, Kinder Morgan
SpouseNancy Kinder
Children1
Kinder Morgan Building, Houston - 1001 Louisiana St, Houston, TX

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]

Early life

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]

Career

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]

Personal life

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 in1996, 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]

Kinder Foundation

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, Kinder Foundation has given more than $506.9[18] million in gifts.[19]

Quality of Life

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, Kinder Foundation granted Rice University another $50 million to expand 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, 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]

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 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 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.

Kinder Foundation contributed more than $3.5 million to Houston’s COVID-19 relief efforts, including $1 million to Houston Food Bank in April 2020[29] and $1 million to City of Houston’s second rental assistance package[30].

Urban Greenspace

Along with several other Houston philanthropies, 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 Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center property and create a permanent downtown greenspace and public park. Kinder Foundation contributed an initial $10 million for the park’s creation.[31]

In 2010, Kinder Foundation approached 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, Kinder Foundation granted $100 million to 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 Memorial Park Conservancy in April 2018.[34] In February 2023, 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]

Education

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] 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]

Political activities

In 2015, Kinder and his wife Nancy donated $2 million to a Super PAC supporting Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush.[39]

References

  1. ↑ "Free Birthday Database". Birthdatabase.com. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Kinder Morgan Management". Kindermorgan.com. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 "Executive Compensation & Stock Trading - Businessweek". Investing.businessweek.com. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gilbert, Daniel (18 October 2011). "Richard Kinder: New Energy Patch King - WSJ". Online.wsj.com. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Richard Kinder: The Luckiest Ex-Enron Employee - Deal Journal - WSJ". Blogs.wsj.com. 17 October 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Richard D. Kinder". Nndb.com. 6 March 2003. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 "Richard Kinder". Forbes. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Enron Corporation - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Enron Corporation". Referenceforbusiness.com. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "The Business Journal interview with Rich Kinder, founder, chairman and CEO of Kinder Morgan". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  10. ↑ Pulsinelli, Olivia. "13 Houstonians make Forbes' list of richest Americans — and half are self-made billionaires". Houston Business Journal. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  11. ↑ Kroll, Luisa; Dolan, Kerry A. "Inside The 2014 Forbes 400: Facts And Figures About America's Wealthiest". Forbes. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  12. ↑ E (1 January 1970). "The Richest People in America". Forbes. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  13. ↑ "Rich Kinder is Houston's richest person, Forbes says". Bizjournals.com. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  14. ↑ "The Forbes 400 2020: The Richest People in America". Forbes. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  15. ↑ "Nancy G. Kinder". Nndb.com. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  16. ↑ "Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee Organization". New York City: Nndb.com. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  17. ↑ "The Kinder Foundation Mission is to Promote green space education quality of life in Houston". kinderfoundation.org. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  18. ↑ Cowen, Diane (23 September 2022). "Meet the couple behind Houston's $281M transformation through new park amenities and green spaces". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  19. ↑ "Rice announces the Kinder Institute for Urban Research". kinderfoundation.org. Kinder Foundation. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  20. ↑ Nietzel, Michael T. "Rice University Receives $50 Million Gift For Its Kinder Institute". Forbes. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  21. ↑ Pugh, Clifford. "Green for greenspace: Rich and Nancy Kinder donate $50 million to ambitious bayou parks plan". Culture Map Houston. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  22. ↑ "Museum of Fine Arts to undergo $450M redevelopment, chaired by Rich Kinder". www.bizjournals.com. 13 January 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  23. ↑ "Houston to Celebrate the Opening on Saturday, November 21, of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building". The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  24. ↑ "MFAH previews new campus; Kinders issue $25M challenge grant to finish fundraising (Video)". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  25. ↑ George, Cindy (11 January 2017). "Emancipation Park project gets additional $2 million". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  26. ↑ "Register". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  27. ↑ "The Montrose Center Receives $1.5 Million From Kinder Foundation to Establish Senior Housing Complex in Third Ward" (PDF).
  28. ↑ "$5.3 Million Raised and Growing Hourly for United Way of Greater Houston Relief Fund to Help Those Devastated by Harvey" (PDF).
  29. ↑ Chron, Emma Balter (5 May 2020). "Houston Food Bank receives $1 million gift from Kinder Foundation". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  30. ↑ McGuinness, Dylan (5 August 2020). "Houston adds $20 million to its rent relief program". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  31. ↑ "Why Houston is spending millions to take a walk in the park (Video)". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  32. ↑ ""Buffalo Bayou's Back" with transformation of iconic Houston greenspace. Buffalo Bayou Park complete in Fall 2015" (PDF).
  33. ↑ Rayford, Sabirah (26 September 2022). "Buffalo Bayou Park East receives $100M grant from Kinder Foundation for major expansion". KPRC. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  34. ↑ "Kinders give $70M to Memorial Park - Houston Chronicle, 4/26/2018". digital.olivesoftware.com. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  35. ↑ Ortiz, Patricia (10 February 2023). "Memorial Park in Houston officially opens Kinder Land Bridge this weekend – Houston Public Media". www.houstonpublicmedia.org. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  36. ↑ "$25 million Kinder gift expands opportunities for students // Show Me Mizzou // University of Missouri". showme.missouri.edu. 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  37. ↑ "Rich Kinder's foundation gives major university $10M to fund new degrees". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  38. ↑ Jacques, Melissa (1 November 2022). "Kinder Institute to expand constitutional democracy program with $25M donation". Columbia Missourian. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  39. ↑ "Million-Dollar Donors in the 2016 Presidential Race". New York Times. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
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