Bob R. Simpson is an American businessman. He is the co-founder of

XTO Energy XTO Energy Inc. is an American energy company and subsidiary of ExxonMobil principally operating in North America. Acquired by ExxonMobil in 2010 and based out of Spring, Texas, it is involved with the production, processing, transportation, and ...

and co-chairman of the Texas Rangers

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) team.

Career

In 1985, Simpson founded Cross Timbers Oil Company and has served as Chairman of the Board since July 1, 1996. In 2001, the name of the company was changed to

. In 2009 XTO Energy was ranked 325th on the

Forbes Global 2000 The ''Forbes'' Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world, published by: sales, profit, assets and market value. The list has been published annually since 2003. By country Forbes Global 2000 as of 2023: ...

. In December 2009,

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

announced a proposal to acquire XTO Energy for $41 billion. The merger was completed in June 2010.

Baseball owner

In August 2010, Simpson and another Texas oil magnate, Ray Davis, served as co-lead investors in the $593 million winning bid to take the Texas Rangers baseball team out of bankruptcy. Simpson and Davis became co-chairmen of the Rangers, but initially remained in the background, leaving the Rangers in the hands of managing partner and CEO Chuck Greenberg and President

Nolan Ryan Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB), Ryan pitched for the New Yo ...

. They served mainly as senior consultants, an arrangement continued after Greenberg resigned in 2011, making Ryan the undisputed day-to-day head of the franchise. In October 2010, the Texas Rangers played in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

for the first time in franchise history, but lost the

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

to the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. In October 2011, the team again reached the

, but lost again, this time to the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

. Ryan left the ownership group in 2013. However, Davis and Simpson mostly left the Rangers in the hands of general manager

Jon Daniels Jon Daniels (born August 24, 1977) is an American professional baseball executive senior advisor for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as president of baseball operations for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texa ...

and have rarely interfered. As before, they served mostly as senior consultants. This continued when Daniels was succeeded by Chris Young.

Education

Simpson received a BS in accounting and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

. He was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2010.

RayLynn Records

In 2012, Simpson, along with his wife Janice, started a record label for emerging musicians named RayLynn Records. ''Hear Me'', the debut album from up and coming rock musician Kyle Sherman, was the first recording produced by the company.

Numismatics

Simpson is an avid coin collector, and has amassed a collection of rarities. In 2020, part of his collection was auctioned off, including an 1894-S dime (one of nine known to exist).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Bob R. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Baylor University alumni Texas Rangers owners