Everett Pierce Marshall (January 12, 1939 – June 20, 2006) was an American

petroleum industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry, includes the global processes of hydrocarbon exploration, exploration, extraction of petroleum, extraction, oil refinery, refining, Petroleum transport, transportation (often by oil tankers ...

executive. He was the beneficial owner of 16% of

Koch Industries Koch, Inc. () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation based in Wichita, Kansas, and is the second-largest privately held company in the United States, after Cargill. Its subsidiarie ...

, which he received as an

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

from his father, J. Howard Marshall II. He spent the last 12 years of his life as a defendant in lawsuits by his stepmother,

Anna Nicole Smith Vickie Lynn Marshall (née Hogan; November 28, 1967 – February 8, 2007), known professionally as Anna Nicole Smith, was an American model, actress, and television personality. Smith started her career as a ''Playboy'' magazine centerfold in M ...

, and his brother, J. Howard Marshall III, who both sought part of his father's fortune after being left out of the

will and testament A will and testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property (estate (law), estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the property until its fi ...

Early life and education

Marshall attended

The Webb Schools The Webb Schools (now often simply "Webb") are private schools for grades 9–12 located in Claremont, California. Up until 2022, it was separated into The Webb School of California for boys (established in 1922) and the Vivian Webb School for g ...

Millersburg Military Institute Millersburg Military Institute (MMI) was a military boarding school founded in 1893 in Millersburg, Kentucky, about northeast of Lexington, Kentucky. It closed in 2014. History Founded in 1893, it survived for over 113 years until closing in ...

, and then graduated from

Culver Military Academy Culver Academies is a college preparatory boarding school in Culver, Indiana, which is composed of three entities: Culver Military Academy (CMA) for boys, Culver Girls Academy (CGA), and the Culver Summer Schools and Camps (CSSC). Culver Milita ...

in 1956. He received an undergraduate degree from

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...

in 1961.

Career

Marshall began his career at

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

as an engine

test engineer A test engineer is a professional who determines how to create a process that would best test a particular product in manufacturing and related disciplines, in order to assure that the product meets applicable specifications. Test engineers are als ...

, followed by a brief tour with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. After leaving the navy, Marshall worked for Loeb, Rhoades & Co., an

investment bank Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

in New York. In 1969, Marshall moved to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

to work with his father. At his brother's wedding in 1974, he and his brother were each given shares representing a 4% stake in

by their father, J. Howard Marshall II, who said "these are the crown jewels, take care of them." In 1980, the four sons of Fred C. Koch fought over control of

, founded by their father. J. Howard Marshall III sided with Bill Koch and

Frederick R. Koch Frederick Robinson Koch ( ; August 26, 1933 – February 12, 2020) was an American collector and philanthropist, the eldest of the four sons born to American industrialist Fred Chase Koch, founder of what is now Koch Industries, and Mary Clement ...

, while Pierce and his father sided with

Charles Koch Charles de Ganahl Koch ( ; born November 1, 1935) is an American billionaire businessman and engineer. As of May 2025, he is ranked as the 22nd richest man in the world on the '' Bloomberg Billionaires Index'', with an estimated net worth of US ...

and

David Koch David Hamilton Koch ( ; May 3, 1940 – August 23, 2019) was an American businessman, political activist, philanthropist, and chemical engineer. In 1970, he joined the family business: Koch Industries, the second largest privately held co ...

, resulting in J. Howard Marshall buying back the shares he had previously given J. Howard Marshall III. The company purchased the remaining shares of Bill, Frederick and others in 1983. From 1979 to 1981, he was Vice President of Finance of International Oil and Gas Corporation. During 1982, he managed his own investments. In 1983, he joined Weber, Hall, Sale and Associates, a stock brokerage firm in Dallas. In August 1986, he became the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of Electron Corporation, an iron foundry based in

Littleton, Colorado Littleton is a home rule municipality city located in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Stati ...

. He also served as chairman since 1981, when his father-in-law died. He led Electron through a successful turnaround, saving over 300 jobs in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

and

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. When the health of his father, J. Howard Marshall, began to deteriorate in 1993, he ceased his securities brokerage business, delegated his responsibilities at Electron and assumed operational responsibilities at Marshall Petroleum. His father died in 1995, leaving the family fortune in trusts for the benefit of Pierce and leaving his brother, J. Howard Marshall III, and his father's widow,

, out of the

. Smith and Marshall III sued, and Pierce and his father's estate were defendants in several cases including ''

Marshall v. Marshall ''Marshall v. Marshall'', 547 U.S. 293 (2006), is a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that a federal district court had equal or concurrent jurisdiction with state probate (will) courts over tort claims under state common law. T ...

'' and ''

Stern v. Marshall ''Stern v. Marshall'', 564 U.S. 462 (2011), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a bankruptcy court, as a non-Article III court (i.e., courts without full judicial independence) lacked constitutional authority und ...

'', which both reached the

Supreme Court of the United States 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 Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

. In the end, the courts ruled that Marshall III and Smith had no rights to the estate. Although Pierce did not like the spotlight and dealing with lawyers, he refused to settle the cases because he believed he was fighting a crusade to honor the final wishes of his father.

Death

Marshall died on June 20, 2006, at the age of 67 as a result of

septic shock Septic shock is a potentially fatal medical condition that occurs when sepsis, which is organ injury or damage in response to infection, leads to dangerously low blood pressure and abnormalities in cellular metabolism. The Third International C ...

brought on by a combination of

staphylococcus ''Staphylococcus'', from Ancient Greek σταφυλή (''staphulḗ''), meaning "bunch of grapes", and (''kókkos''), meaning "kernel" or " Kermes", is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria in the family Staphylococcaceae from the order Bacillale ...

and

streptococcus ''Streptococcus'' is a genus of gram-positive spherical bacteria that belongs to the family Streptococcaceae, within the order Lactobacillales (lactic acid bacteria), in the phylum Bacillota. Cell division in streptococci occurs along a sing ...

infections that were resistant to drugs. His shares in

then passed to trusts for the benefit of his wife,

Elaine Tettemer Marshall Elaine Tettemer Marshall (born July 22, 1942) is an American billionaire heiress. Trusts for the benefit of Marshall and her two sons own the 16% beneficial interest in Koch Industries that were formerly owned by her husband, E. Pierce Marshall ...

, and his children, Preston Marshall and E. Pierce Marshall Jr.

Personal life

Marshall married

in 1965 and they had two sons: Preston Marshall and E. Pierce Marshall Jr. Marshall always said that his shares in Koch Industries were worth less than amounts indicated in published reports since the company had no plans to become a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...

and they were therefore illiquid. Marshall was a motorsports enthusiast and competed in the last running of the

Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash The Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, widely known as the Cannonball Baker or Cannonball Run, was an unofficial, unsanctioned automobile race run five times in the 1970s from New York City and Darien, Connecticut, on the Eas ...

, better known as the Cannonball Run, in April 1979. Teamed with

Sports Car Club of America The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting Autocross, Rallycross, HPDE, Time Trial, Road Racing, RoadRally, and Hill Climbs in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs ...

racers Dave Faust and Kirby Goodman, Marshall drove a

Chevrolet Malibu The Chevrolet Malibu is a mid-size car that was manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet from 1964 to 1983 and from 1997 to 2025. The Malibu began as a trim-level of the Chevrolet Chevelle, becoming its own model line in 1978. Originally a rear-w ...

with the

9C1 9C1 is a production code used by Chevrolet to designate a vehicle intended for use as a police car or car-based emergency vehicle. 9C1-designated vehicles are marketed under the Police Pursuit Vehicle or Police Patrol Vehicle (PPV) nameplate. The ...

Police Patrol Package and a 350-cubic-inch LT-1 Z-28

Chevrolet Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro sha ...

engine, finishing 13th in a field of 47 competitors, completing the run from

Darien, Connecticut Darien ( ) is a coastal town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. With a population of 21,499 and a land area of just under , it is the smallest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast. Situated on the Long Island ...

, to

Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach (Spanish for ) is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent Beach Cities, beach c ...

, in 36 hours, 51 minutes. Marshall wrote, "Over two decades later, the laughs and the memories are still fresh. I was fortunate to be involved".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, E. Pierce 1939 births 2006 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople Culver Academies alumni Foundrymen Infectious disease deaths in Texas Marshall family Businesspeople from Houston Pomona College alumni United States Navy sailors Deaths from staphylococcal infection Deaths from streptococcus infection