Biography
Don Blankenship was born in Stopover, Kentucky and raised in Delorme, West Virginia. His father served in the Korean War and his mother, Nancy McCoy, was a member of the McCoy family; they divorced soon after Don was born, and Don's mother ran a convenience store and gas station with her divorce settlement money for 40 years. Three years after graduating from Matewan High School, West Virginia, he earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Marshall University in 1972. He was the recipient of Marshall University’s “Most Distinguished Alumni” award and inducted into the Lewis College of Business Hall of Fame in 1999.
Blankenship is certified as a public accountant. In 2002, he was inducted into the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Business and Industry Hall of Fame and, in 2002, was recognized by the West Virginia Society of CPA’s as an Outstanding Member in Business and Industry. Blankenship was also inducted into the Tug Valley Mining Institute Hall of Fame.
Blankenship joined a Massey subsidiary, Rawl Sales & Processing Co., in 1982. Since then he has served the company in a number of capacities. He was promoted to president of Massey Coal Services, Inc. (1989–1991), then president and chief Operating Officer from 1990 to 1991.
In 1992, Blankenship was named president, chairman of the board of A.T. Massey. He is the first non-Massey family member to be in charge of the company. When A.T. Massey was spun off from Fluor Corporation as Massey Energy in 2000, Blankenship became the newly independent company's chairman and CEO.
He also serves as a director of the Center for Energy and Economic Development, a director of the National Mining Association, Mission West Virginia Inc, and was on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce board of directors.
He is divorced and lives in Rawl, West Virginia. Blankenship has two children. His son, John Blankenship, is a dirt track car racer.
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