Frederic B. Ingram (a.k.a. Fritz Ingram) was an American-born Irish heir and businessman. Born to the Ingram dynasty of

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, he was charged with bribing government officials over a sewage contract in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and jailed for 16 months. His sentence was commuted by President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

in 1980. Shortly after, he renounced his United States citizenship and became an Irish citizen. He resided in California.

Early life

Frederic B. Ingram grew up in

.E. Thomas Wood
Commuter Relationships: How Fritz Ingram got out of jail -- and bitterly left his old life behind
''

Nashville Post ''NashvillePost.com'' is an online news service covering business, politics and sports in the Nashville metropolitan area. It is locally owned and available by subscription. ''NashvillePost.com'' competes with other daily news media in the Middl ...

'', February 7, 2001 His father, Orrin Henry Ingram, Sr., was a business magnate.Leslie Eaton
E. Bronson Ingram, Who Built Family Concern Into Giant, 63
''The New York Times'', June 21, 1995 His mother is Hortense Bigelow. He had a brother, E. Bronson Ingram II, who died in 1995.Carleen Hawn
Sibling Rivalry
''Forbes'', 9/06/1999 His paternal great-grandfather three times removed, David Ingram, had immigrated from

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, England, in 1780.Ingram Chronicles
''Forbes'', 9/06/1999 His paternal great-grandfather,

Orrin Henry Ingram Orrin Henry Ingram (May 13, 1830 – October 16, 1918) was an American lumber baron and philanthropist from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Orphaned at age 11, he established sawmills in Ontario, Canada, and the Chippewa Valley of Wisconsin. He was a banke ...

, was a lumber baron in Wisconsin.Inside A $15 Billion Dynasty
''Bloomberg Business'', September 28, 1997 His paternal grandfather, Erskine B. Ingram, was a lumber baron and businessman. Ingram was educated at

Phillips Exeter Academy Phillips Exeter Academy (often called Exeter or PEA) is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, college-preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. Established in 1781, it is America's sixth-oldest boarding school and educates an es ...

. He attended

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, graduating in 1952.

Career

Ingram inherited Ingram Corp. with his brother from their late father in 1963. He served as its Chairman. In 1970, he acquired the Great Plains Construction Co., an oil and gas pipeline and water line construction company headquartered in

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

, which became a subsidiary of the Ingram Corp. The subsidiary built sections 5 and 6 of the

Trans-Alaska Pipeline System The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) is an oil transportation system spanning Alaska, including the trans-Alaska crude-oil pipeline, 12 pump stations, several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, and the Valdez Marine Terminal. TAPS is one o ...

; it also built a pipeline in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and bid for pipeline contracts in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. In 1976, Ingram and his brother were indicted for bribing officials in Illinois for a "$48 million Chicago sewage contract". Ingram pleaded innocent. However, while his brother was acquitted, Ingram was charged on 29 counts and sentenced to four years in prison. He was jailed in federal prison for 16 months. His sentence was commuted by President

in December 1980, and he was released in May 1981. His business ties were separated from his brother's in 1980; Ingram took the oil interests while his brother kept the distribution subsidiary. However, he "failed" after he lost $100 million over six weeks in 1983.E. Thomas Wood
A Bad Penny: The return of the embarrassing brother
, ''

Nashville Scene ''Nashville Scene'' is an alternative newsweekly in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1989, became a part of Village Voice Media in 1999, and later joined the ranks of sixteen other publications after a merger of Village Voice Media with ...

'', June 6, 1996 In 1985, Ingram sued William F. Earthman, the former Chairman of the Commerce Union Bank, a Nashville-based bank, over the repayment of a private loan.Tennessee State Courts: Frederick B. Ingram v. William F. Earthman
/ref> He won the lawsuit.

Personal life and death

Ingram renounced his

United States citizenship Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constitu ...

and moved to

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

after his sentence was commuted. He later moved to Ireland and became an Irish citizen. He lived off the income from a

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

-based US$150 million

trust fund A trust is a legal relationship in which the owner of property, or any transferable right, gives it to another to manage and use solely for the benefit of a designated person. In the English common law, the party who entrusts the property is k ...

until Ingram Corp. was reduced to insolvency in 1984 by large oil trading losses. In 1982, Ingram was accused of raping a 25-year-old woman in New Orleans, where he resided. She received US$350,000 from a jury in the Civil District Court of Orleans Parish. Ingram was married to

Ingrid Goude Ingrid Goude (born May 26, 1937) is a Swedish former actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She became an actress in B-movie and sci-fi motion pictures of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Her parents were Edward K. Goude, the manager of ...

, a Swedish-born model and actress.Mary Lou Loper
A Pasadena Vista With Special Appeal
''The Los Angeles Times'', January 26m 1986 They resided in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

. Ingram died on August 26, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingram, Frederic, B. 2015 deaths Businesspeople from Nashville, Tennessee Businesspeople from New Orleans Businesspeople from Beverly Hills, California Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Vanderbilt University alumni Princeton University alumni Businesspeople from Tennessee American businesspeople in the oil industry Crime in Chicago American people convicted of bribery Prisoners and detainees of Tennessee Recipients of American presidential clemency Former United States citizens Naturalised citizens of Ireland American people of English descent Ingram family

Early life

Career

Personal life and death

See also

References