Ray Lee Hunt (born 1943) is an American billionaire heir and businessman.

Early life

Hunt is the son of the late H. L. Hunt (1889–1974), founder of Hunt Oil Co. His parents married in 1957. Hunt's sisters include June Hunt, Swanee Hunt, and Helen LaKelly Hunt.

Education

Hunt is a graduate of

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

in the

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

enclave of

University Park, Texas University Park is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States, in suburban Dallas. The population was 25,278 at the 2020 census. The city is home to Southern Methodist University. University Park is bordered on the north, east and west by Dal ...

Career

After his father's death in 1974, he inherited Hunt Oil Co. and the remains of the General American Oil Company along with his three sisters. In 1982, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine estimated Ray Hunt's family's total net worth to be $200 million. In 2006 ''Forbes'' estimated that Ray's family's net worth increased from $200 million to $4.6 billion. In September 2007, Hunt struck an oil deal with the

Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...

Regional Government in the disputed territories of Ninewa near the

Dohuk Governorate Duhok Governorate (, , ) is a Governorates of Iraq, governorate in the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Its capital is the city of Duhok. It includes Zakho, near the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing with Şırnak Province, Turkey. It borders ...

with an estimated value of $8 to $14.5 billion. The federal

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

i Oil minister has denounced this deal as illegal, because under current Iraqi law only the central government is authorized to enter into contracts, though the Kurdistan Region believes it has a constitutional right to do so. The Kurds refuse to share details about the deal but insist that they will share profits. Likewise, Hunt Oil has refused to answer questions about the deal from US government officials who called for details when the deal became public. A U.S. Congressional committee concluded that

George W. Bush administration George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following his narrow electoral college vict ...

officials knew that Hunt oil was planning to sign the oil deal with the regional Kurdistan Regional Government that ran counter to American policy and undercut Iraq's central government. The issue is still open and the State Department's Office of Inspector General is reviewing the issue. In November 2009, native

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

vians under the coalition of the Native Federation of the Rio Madre de Dios, (FENAMAD), issued a
eviction notice
to Ray Hunt and the Hunt Oil Company from the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve. In the letter FENAMAD wrote, "Having peacefully exhausted all protest, without receiving any answer, we hereby communicate to you that we have agreed to a fifteen-day period for you to definitively withdraw from the Amarakaeria Communal Reserve since you do not have the indigenous community's consent." A press release issued b
Amazon Watch
stated that "The Reserve was first established in 2002 after years of indigenous petitioning to protect the rainforest area of the vast Madre de Dios and Karene watersheds and to provide protected zones for the Harakmbut indigenous peoples to live, fish, and hunt. The area in dispute, besides being a declared nature reserve, crosses the headwaters of several important river basins, and lies in the buffer zones of Manu and Bahuaja Sonene National Parks, two of the most biodiverse national parks in the world." He is the former owner of the Southwest Media Corporation of Texas which published ''

D Magazine ''D Magazine'' is a monthly magazine covering Dallas–Fort Worth. It is headquartered in Downtown Dallas. ''D Magazine'' covers a range of topics including politics, business, food, fashion and lifestyle in the city of Dallas. The first issue ...

'', '' Houston City Magazine'', '' Texas Homes'' and '' Sport Magazine''.

Political donations

Hunt was a major supporter of former

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and a member of the

President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board The President's Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB) is an advisory body to the Executive Office of the President of the United States. According to its self-description, it "provides advice to the President concerning the quality and adequacy o ...

. He serves on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, SMU, and of the

George W. Bush Presidential Center The George W. Bush Presidential Center, which opened on April 25, 2013, is a complex that includes former United States President George W. Bush's presidential library and museum, the George W. Bush Policy Institute, and the offices of the Geor ...

. In 2015, Hunt and his wife donated $2 million to a Super PAC supporting the presidential candidacy of

Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Bush family, Bush political family, he was an unsuccessful candidate for pre ...

Other donations

Hunt is also a major donor to the SMU athletic program. He was one of a group of roughly 15 boosters who played a major role in the university's impending 2024 move from the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

to the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC). The group's members committed to making athletic donations large enough to allow the school to forego any ACC media revenue for its first nine years as an ACC member.

Personal life

Hunt is married and has five children. Hunt's son, Hunter L. Hunt, is the CEO of Hunt Consolidated Energy. Hunt lives in Dallas, Texas. As of 2015,

estimated Hunt's net worth to be US$6 billion, and a 2023

Yahoo Sports Yahoo! Sports is a sports news website launched by Yahoo! on December 8, 1997. It receives a majority of its information from Stats Perform. It employs numerous writers, and has team pages for teams in almost every North American major sport. ...

story placed his net worth at $7.5 billion.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Ray Lee 1943 births Living people Hunt family Businesspeople from Dallas Southern Methodist University alumni George W. Bush administration personnel American businesspeople in the oil industry American billionaires Texas Republicans Phi Delta Theta members