John Whitfield Mecom Sr. (January 13, 1911 – October 12, 1981), was an American independent oilman. Mecom acquired abandoned oil wells and made them profitable. He developed new fields from

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. He was once ranked as one of the top oil independents; however, he filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

in 1970. After reorganizing his John W. Mecom Company, he reopened his company, which he subsequently operated with his son,

John W. Mecom Jr. John W. Mecom Jr. (born 1940) is the chairman of the John W. Mecom company and former owner of the New Orleans Saints NFL football team. Mecom is the son of Texas oilman John W. Mecom Sr. and his wife Mary Elizabeth. He was a student at the Univ ...

, former owner of the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

football team. On December 18, 1964, a C82 Packet owned by Mecom was shot down by the

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

ian air force, killing both pilot and co-pilot after failing to log a flight plan and failing to land at Alexandria after repeated requests. (see FAA report which blames Mecom's pilot). The incident strained U.S.-Egypt relations, Mecom being a friend and donor of

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Lyndon B. Johnson. The Egyptian government said that the plane was shot down by its

MiG Russian Aircraft Corporation "MiG" (russian: Российская самолётостроительная корпорация „МиГ“, Rossiyskaya samolyotostroitel'naya korporatsiya "MiG"), commonly known as Mikoyan and MiG, was a Russi ...

fighter jets after ignoring a repeated warning to land. Mecom was not on the plane which was on a routine trip to purchase drilling detergent for his oil business. In December 1965, Mecom offered to buy the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

'', its building, the Rice Hotel and a 35 percent interest in Texas Commerce National Bank from

Houston Endowment Inc. Houston Endowment Inc. was founded in 1937 by Jesse H. Jones and Mary Gibbs Jones to facilitate the expansion of their philanthropic work. The charter does not designate the Houston, Texas, Houston area as its principal beneficiary; however, the Jon ...

The offer included a down payment of one million dollars. However, Mecom was unable to raise the additional cash to complete the sale and canceled the transaction. In the 1960s, Mecom partnered with

Patrick F. Taylor Patrick F. Taylor (June 12, 1937 – November 6, 2004) was an American businessman, the founder and CEO of the independent oil company Taylor Energy Company. Taylor Opportunity Program for Students Taylor had a strong interest in education ...

, who held a degree in petroleum engineering from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

. In 1974, the two started the Circle Bar Drilling Company, which they sold in 1979. Taylor then established his own oil company in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, and subsequently became known as an educational

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. John Mecom owned and raced

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 c ...

s which included Narushua that finished 11th in the

1965 Kentucky Derby The 1965 Kentucky Derby was the 91st running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 1, 1965. Full results References

Kentucky Derby races, 1965 1965 in horse racing, Kentucky Derby 1965 in sports in Kentucky, Derby 1965 in ...

and the multiple stakes-winning

gelding A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, makin ...

Rushing Man that finished 14th in the

1975 Kentucky Derby The 1975 Kentucky Derby was the 101st running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 3, 1975, with 113,324 people in attendance. Full results References 1975 Kentucky Derby Derby Kentucky Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derb ...

References

* 1911 births 1981 deaths People from Houston American businesspeople in the oil industry American racehorse owners and breeders 20th-century American businesspeople Texas Democrats {{US-CEO-stub