Billy Joe "Red" McCombs (born October 19, 1927) is an American businessman. He is the founder of the Red McCombs Automotive Group in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, a co-founder of

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

, former chairman of Constellis Group, a former owner of the San Antonio Spurs,

San Antonio Force The San Antonio Force were a professional arena football team based in San Antonio, Texas. The team was a member of the Arena Football League that competed in the 1992 season only. The team owner of the Force was Red McCombs. The team's colors ...

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

, the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansio ...

, and the namesake of the McCombs School of Business at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. He is on the

Forbes 400 The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is p ...

list of richest Americans. In 2012, the '' San Antonio Express-News'' reported McCombs' net worth at $1.4 billion. He was ranked the 913th richest man in the world. Two other San Antonio men at the time, Charles Butt of the H-E-B supermarket chain and Rodney Lewis, a

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon ...

driller, finished above McCombs on the list. In 2017, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' placed the value of McCombs' fortune at $1.6 billion with a ranking of No. 1,290 on a list of the world's billionaires.

Biography

McCombs was born in

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...

Spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to ba ...

in Dickens County in

West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio. No consensus exists on the boundary betwe ...

. His nickname "Red" comes from his hair color. His father was a mechanic who earned $25 per week but

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

d through the First

Baptist Church Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul com ...

of Spur each week. McCombs recalled having seen his parents "share with those who had less, and the joy of giving never ceased to amaze me."John Tedesco, "McCombs makes a lot and donates a lot", ''San Antonio Express-News'', November 26, 2015 In 1958, McCombs and his fellow salesman, Austin Hemphill, moved to San Antonio to create Hemphill-McCombs Ford, which was the foundation for what ultimately became th
Red McCombs Automotive Group
McCombs has served as chairman of the trustees at

Southwestern University Southwestern University (Southwestern or SU) is a private liberal arts college in Georgetown, Texas. Formed in 1873 from a revival of collegiate charters granted in 1840, Southwestern is the oldest college or university in Texas. Southwester ...

and chairman of the University of Texas's M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. His particular interest in M. D. Anderson was accentuated in 1986, when he visited a dying friend undergoing treatment there. He expressed how he was overcome by the kindness of every employee he met at the hospital. The workers, he found, had been trained to offer compassion and solace to all who come through the doors. He joined the Anderson board and in 2005 donated $30 million to the hospital. The business school at the University of Texas was renamed the Red McCombs School of Business in recognition of his $50 million donation to the institution. The $50 million actually yielded $100 million in matching funds for new faculty positions, fellowships, and scholarships. He is the board chairman of Academi. McCombs is a member of the Alamo Endowment Board, which raises funds for the preservation and management of the Alamo Mission in downtown San Antonio. With the state purchasing three historic buildings in Alamo Plaza, McCombs said in October 2015 that he envisions an expansion program consistent with the reality of the Alamo story to enhance the overall experience of future visitors to the historic site. McCombs is a reformed

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

, who could "handle his social drinking" until the age of 48, when overcome with convulsions he went into a five-day

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

at a medical facility in

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

. McCombs said in a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

2016 interview, "

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

was good to me and for whatever reason wanted me to live, because I was really dead when I left in 1975 to go to Houston on that medical plane. They told Charline, 'Go ahead and start making arrangements because we are losing him.'" McCombs said that he recovered and never again had a desire for alcohol. The McCombs Foundation has donated more than $118 million to charity. It is operated by his daughters who work to keep overhead at a minimum. The foundation makes small donations too, such as $1,000 to

Mothers Against Drunk Driving Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a non-profit organization in the United States, Canada and Brazil that seeks to stop drunk driving, support those affected by drunk driving, prevent underage drinking, and strive for stricter impaired drivin ...

, which are rarely publicized. McCombs said that he is a large donor to charitable causes because "it makes me feel so good about doing it." In 2017, McCombs filed a $1 million civil suit against seven of his former executives whom he alleged took "trade secrets" from McCombs' company to begin a competing firm in Houston, F4 Resources. Defendants in the suit include William "Bill" Forney, Jr., who worked with McCombs for forty-four years, former chief financial officer Ricky Halkin, vice president of operations Larry Wyont, vice president of land Charles Forney, and the vice president of geology, Philip Forney. McCombs had established McCombs Energy in Houston in 1998 by merging his 50 percent interest in his partnership with William Forney with other assets purchased from Forney. McCombs claims that his former associates, however, lowered the proper payout that he was due from his investments. McCombs said that the former executives shattered personal relationships of some four decades.Patrick Danner, "McCombs sues ex-executives: Suit claims taking of trade secrets, greed", ''San Antonio Express-News'', April 1, 2017, pp. B5-B6. McCombs was married to Charline Hamblin from 1950 until her death on December 12, 2019.

Sports ownership

McCombs attributes construction of the HemisFair Arena as the essential development to the success of the Spurs. He contacted Lee Iacocca, then president of the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles ...

, to seek funding for the arena to correspond with the 1968 World's Fair. At first, Iacocca offered only $250,000 for the purchase of an art object, and he scolded McCombs and ridiculed San Antonio as "that little old dusty ass town of yours down there ithno political or economic significance to the Ford Motor Company."Tom Orsborn, "There from Day One: McCombs recalls role as Spurs' founder", ''San Antonio Express-News'', December 25, 2016, pp. SP10-SP12 McCombs persisted and asked U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson to contact Henry Ford, II, and in a continued heated exchange even told Iacocca that Ford needed to improve the quality of its 1968 vehicles. McCombs located other investors, and the Dallas Chaparrals came to San Antonio five years later in 1973. McCombs realized the importance of

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

to sports events and saw the opportunity to bring San Antonio to a national stage. Under the McCombs administration the Spurs had their first superstar in George Gervin, called "The Iceman", who was recruited from the Virginia Squires. Two years after taking the Spurs into the NBA, McCombs sold off his stake in the Spurs and bought another former ABA team, the

. He held onto the team until 1985, when he sold it to Sidney Shlenker. In 1998, McCombs bought the

for US$250 million. After an unsuccessful attempt to replace the

Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (commonly called the Metrodome) was a domed sports stadium located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It opened in 1982 as a replacement for Metropolitan Stadium, the former home of the National Football League' ...

, McCombs sold the team to new (and current) owner Zygi Wilf before the 2005 NFL season. McCombs was also actively involved in

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racing and breeding for many years as a major partner in Walmac Farm, a leading American breeding farm, in Lexington,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

. McCombs was one of the first investors of the Circuit of the Americas. In December 2020 he got his 'own' corner called 'Big Red'.

Controversy

McCombs owns a piece of property surrounded by National Forest near Wolf Creek ski area, a resort in southern

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

owned by the Pitcher family. McCombs has long wanted to develop a resort community on his property, a plan that has drawn opposition and lawsuits from environmentalists and surrounding communities. McCombs has been unsuccessful in his attempts to convince the court to remove a key roadblock preventing his proposed development. McCombs then attempted to build a casino resort at Navajo Canyon on

Lake Powell Lake Powell is an artificial reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, United States. It is a major vacation destination visited by approximately two million people every year. It is the second largest artificial reservoir by maximum ...

. The local

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native Americans in the United States, Native American Indian reservation, reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwe ...

chapters, local government officials, all unanimously rejected the casino proposal and any projects by Red McCombs. In 2013, McCombs was found by the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...

to have engaged in a sham tax avoidance transaction and was therefore liable for a valuation misstatement penalty. Additionally, McCombs severely criticized the 2014

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

hire of Charlie Strong as football coach. He described Strong as "great position coach ... not on a par with other candidates." Three days later he apologized, and pledged "total support" for Strong.

Awards and honors

*Texas Treasure Business Award for providing employment to Texas citizens *Distinguished Alumnus of The University of Texas at Austin, Longhorn of the Year and the Southwestern University Distinguished Alumnus Award *San Antonio Citizenship Award and induction into San Antonio Business, Texas, Texas Philanthropy, and San Antonio Sports Halls of Fame *Minnesota Business and Opportunities Magazine Man of the Year *Texas Business Hall of Fame in 1998 *Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet o ...

in 1999. His award was presented by Awards Council member Lowry Mays. *National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Gold Medal in 2001

References

External links