Kelcy Lee Warren (born November 9, 1955) is an American

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

and the chairman and chief executive officer of Energy Transfer Partners.

Early life

Born in Gladewater, Texas, Warren grew up in White Oak, Texas, the youngest of four sons of Hugh Brinson Warren and Bertie Lee Kirby. His father worked as a field hand for Sun Pipeline, a company now owned by Warren. Warren went to White Oak High School. He received a bachelor's degree in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1978.

Career

He started his career working for the Lone Star Gas Company. From 1981 to 1992, he worked for Endevco. He served as executive vice-president Cornerstone Natural Gas from 1989 to 1990, and as president and CEO from 1993 to 1996. He has been the co-chairman and co-CEO of Energy Transfer Partners since 2007. He also serves as member of the management council of ETP Enogex Partners LLC, co-CEO of ETC OLP, co-CEO and co-chairman of La Grange Energy and of US Propane LLC. He is a former co-chairman of Le Gp, OEC Compression. From 1996 to 2000, he sat on the board of directors of Crosstex Energy. He serves on the advisory board of his alma mater, the University of Texas at Arlington. In 2007, he bought the bankrupt Lajitas Resorts in Lajitas, Texas, as a real estate investment. Warren purchased the Roatan Electric Company (RECO) in 2008, where he serves as president and chairman of the board. RECO invested $7 million on a wind farm that was scheduled for completion in 2017. Warren is chief executive officer and chairman of Energy Transfer Partners. Warren also serves as chairman of the general partner of Energy Transfer Equity. Prior to the combination of the operations of ETP and Heritage Propane in 2004, Warren co-founded the entities that acquired and operated the midstream natural gas pipelines that were contributed in the merger. From 1996 to 2000, Warren served as a director of Crosstex Energy, Inc. and from 1993 to 1996, he served as president, chief operating officer and a director of Cornerstone Natural Gas, Inc. Warren has more than 25 years of business experience in the energy industry. In 2015, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas appointed Warren to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission. In 2022, he ranked No. 289 on the ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' 400 list of the richest people in America, with an estimated net worth of $3.8 billion. Warren received a COVID stimulus check in 2020 as he had reported large losses previously.

Music

In 2007, he co-founded an independent record label, Music Road Records, with Jimmy LaFave and Fred Remmert. He collects music memorabilia, and has a collection that includes autographs of Jackson Browne and drumsticks signed by the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

Philanthropy

In 2020, ''Forbes'' gave Warren its lowest score for philanthropy, a "1." This indicates he was in the lowest 20% of billionaires rated. Warren has hosted the Cherokee Music Festival since it began in 2007. It is a nonprofit event to raise money for children's charities and local public service organizations. In 2012, Warren donated $10 million to help build Klyde Warren Park in downtown

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. It is named for his son. As part of the contract, his son cleans up trash from the park once a month. The construction of the park cost about $90 million. Warren's gift was the largest, giving him naming rights. The Kelcy Warren Foundation supports the Caddo Lake Institution, an organization with the mission of protecting the ecological, cultural and economic integrity of Caddo Lake and its associated wetlands and watershed.

Political activity

Warren donated $6 million to Governor Rick Perry's 2016 presidential campaign. He also donated $103,000 to President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's 2016 presidential campaign. Together with his spouse Amy, Warren contributed $1.8million to President

's 2020 presidential campaign. He gave $1 million to Greg Abbott after Texas's 2021 legislative session.

Personal life

Warren married the former Sherry Johnson on May 18, 1980, in

, and they divorced in 1991. He married Amy Hudson on June 3, 2010, in Dallas. He has one son, Klyde Warren. He lives in Preston Hollow, Dallas on an 8+ acre estate on Park Lane valued at more than $30 million. In 2012, press reports indicated he owned an estate on an island off the coast of

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

. In 2010, he bought the 3,500-acre BootJack Ranch near Pagosa Springs, Colorado, for $46.5 million. He also owns an 8,000-acre ranch near Cherokee, Texas, the 20,000-acre Lajitas Golf Resort and Spa in Lajitas, Texas, and a private island near Roatán,

. In 2020 Warren acquired Castletown Cox house and estate in County Kilkenny, Ireland for €12.6m.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Kelcy 1955 births Living people Businesspeople from Dallas American billionaires American chief operating officers University of Texas at Arlington alumni People from Gladewater, Texas People from Gregg County, Texas