List of People From Texas

Business

John George Adair (1823–1885), partner with Charles Goodnight in JA Ranch
Red Adair (1915–2004), offshore oil field firefighter
Mary Kay Ash (1918–2001), businesswoman and founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics
George Ballas (1925–2011), entrepreneur, invented Weed Eater
Jack S. Blanton (born 1927), oil industry executive, civic leader, philanthropist
Norman Brinker (1931–2009), restaurateur
George R. Brown (1898–1983), construction company founder, entrepreneur, philanthropist
Orville Bullington (1882–1956), attorney, businessman, gubernatorial candidate
Charles Butt (born 1938), CEO of H-E-B supermarket chain, billionaire
Frank Kell Cahoon (born 1934), oilman, natural gas entrepreneur, state representative
Joseph Campisi (1918–1990), restaurateur
Helen Corbitt (1906–1978), chef, cookbook author
Jack Crichton (1916–2007), oil and natural gas industrialist; Republican candidate for governor of Texas in 1964
Carl G. Cromwell (1889–1931), oil driller and aviation pioneer
Trammell Crow (1914–2009), commercial real estate developer
Mark Cuban (born 1958), billionaire entrepreneur, owner of Dallas Mavericks basketball team
Joseph S. Cullinan (1860–1937), oil industrialist, founder of Texaco
Michael Dell (born 1965), founder of Dell Inc.
William Stamps Farish II (1881–1942), oilman, president of Standard Oil, founder and president of American Petroleum Institute, co-founder of Humble Oil (which would become ExxonMobil)
Dean Fearing (born 1955), chef, restaurateur
Carly Fiorina (born 1954), CEO of Hewlett-Packard, senior vice president at AT&T
Don Flynn (1934–2010), oil and gas industry executive, professional football player
Walter Fondren, Sr. (1877–1939), oilman, co-founder of Humble Oil (which would become ExxonMobil), philanthropist
William H. Gaston (1840–1927), co-founder, with Aaron C. Camp, of the first banking house in Dallas
Charles Goodnight (1836–1929), legendary Texas cattleman
Bette Nesmith Graham (1924–1980), inventor, founder of Liquid Paper Corporation, mother of The Monkees' Mike Nesmith
Patrick E. Haggerty (1914–1980), co-founder, president, and chairman of Texas Instruments
Najeeb Halaby (1915–2003), FAA administrator, chairman and CEO of Pan Am, father of Queen Noor of Jordan
Ebby Halliday (born 1911), Realtor, entrepreneur
Adolph R. Hanslik (1917–2007), "dean" of West Texas cotton producers
Pattillo Higgins (1863–1955), oil pioneer and businessman, known as the "Prophet of Spindletop"
Barron Hilton (born 1927), billionaire socialite, businessman, heir to Hilton Hotels fortune
Conrad Hilton, Jr. (1926–1969), socialite, businessman, heir to Hilton Hotels fortune
Timothy Dwight Hobart (1855–1935), landowner, surveyor, rancher, mayor of Pampa
Howard Hughes (1905–1976), aviator, filmmaker, eccentric billionaire
Howard R. Hughes, Sr. (1869–1924), entrepreneur, oilman; father of Howard Hughes
Jim Humphreys (1921–2007), former manager of Pitchfork Ranch east of Lubbock
H. L. Hunt (1889–1974), oil tycoon, patriarch of Dallas family of legendary wealth and power
Lamar Hunt (1932–2006), founder of American Football League, Major League Soccer, North American Soccer League
Nelson Bunker Hunt (born 1926), oilman, investor, horse breeder
Ray Lee Hunt (born 1943), oilman
Jerry Jones (born 1942), billionaire entrepreneur, oilman, owner of Dallas Cowboys football team
J. Erik Jonsson (1901–1995), co-founder and president of Texas Instruments, mayor of Dallas
Gary C. Kelly, CEO, Southwest Airlines
Isaac Herbert Kempner (1873–1967), founder of Imperial Sugar, mayor of Galveston
Oliver Winfield Killam (1874–1959), Laredo oilman, businessman, rancher, former state legislator from Oklahoma
Radcliffe Killam (1910–2007), Laredo oilman, businessman, rancher, large landowner, philanthropist
Kay Kimbell (1886–1964), entrepreneur, philanthropist; endowed Kimbell Art Museum
Richard King (1824–1885), entrepreneur, founder of the legendary King Ranch
John Henry Kirby (1860–1940), businessman, founder of the Kirby Petroleum Company
Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. (1853–1932), managed the King Ranch
Fred C. Koch (1900–1967), chemical engineer and entrepreneur who founded the oil refinery firm that later became Koch Industries
Ninfa Laurenzo (1924–2001), restaurateur
James Ling (1922–2004), founder of business conglomerate Ling-Temco-Vought
Tim Love (born 1971), chef, restaurateur
Gerald Lyda (1923–2005), construction CEO, owner of La Escalera Ranch in Sierra County, New Mexico
James E. Lyon (1927-1993), Houston developer and Republican politician
John Mackey (born 1953), CEO, Whole Foods Market
Herbert Marcus (1878–1950), co-founder and CEO of Neiman Marcus
Minnie Lichtenstein Marcus (1882–1979), vice-president of Neiman Marcus, horticulturist
Stanley Marcus (1905–2002), president and CEO of Neiman Marcus
Glenn McCarthy (1907–1988), oil tycoon, entrepreneur; inspired the character Jett Rink in Giant
Giles McCrary (1919–2011), oil operator, rancher, art collector, philanthropist
Eugene McDermott (1899–1973), founder of Texas Instruments, geophysicist, philanthropist
William Johnson McDonald (1844–1926), banker, philanthropist
Algur H. Meadows (1899–1978), oilman, philanthropist
Barry Munitz (born 1941), corporation and foundation executive, university administrator
Raymond Nasher (1921–2007), real estate developer (NorthPark Center), art collector
Abraham Lincoln Neiman (1875–1970), co-founder of Neiman Marcus
Carrie Marcus Neiman (1883–1953), co-founder and CEO of Neiman Marcus
B.P. Newman (1927–2008), entrepreneur, developer, and philanthropist from Laredo
Bill Noël (1914–1987), oil industrialist and philanthropist from Odessa
William O'Neil (born 1933), entrepreneur, stockbroker, writer, founded Investor's Business Daily
Marc Ostrofsky (born 1961), venture capitalist, entrepreneur, investor, author
Ross Perot (born 1930), entrepreneur, founder of EDS & Perot Systems, and 1992 U.S. Presidential candidate
Bob J. Perry (born 1932), homebuilder, political supporter
Stephen Samuel Perry (1825–1874), manager of Peach Point Plantation, preserved historical manuscripts
T. Boone Pickens (born 1928), energy entrepreneur, philanthropist
Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim (born 1928), founder, chairman, and principal owner of Pilgrim's Pride
Kent Rathbun (born 1961), chef, restaurateur
Sid W. Richardson (1891–1959), oilman, cattleman, philanthropist
Rich Riley (born 1973), Senior Vice President & Managing Director of Yahoo! EMEA
Montie Ritchie (1910–1999), owner and manager of JA Ranch from 1935–1993
Marvin Travis Runyon (1924–2004), business executive, U.S. Postmaster General
Julius Schepps (1895–1971), business owner, civic leader and philanthropist
Walter Benona Sharp (1870–1912), oilman, innovator, philanthropist
Bill Sinkin (born 1913), banker, community activist
Tom Slick (1916–1962), inventor, businessman, adventurer, entrepreneur, philanthropist
Merrie Spaeth (born 1948), business public relations consultant, political consultant, educator, former actress
John M. Stemmons (1909–2001), real estate developer, civic leader
Ross S. Sterling (1875–1949), founder of Humble Oil (which would become ExxonMobil), Governor of Texas
Ben Taub (1889–1982), businessman, philanthropist
Henry Taub (born 1927), founder of Automatic Data Processing, philanthropist
Rich Templeton (born 1958), president, chairman, and CEO of Texas Instruments
Robert L. Thornton (1880–1964), founder and president of Mercantile Bank in Dallas, mayor and civic leader of Dallas
Tex Thornton (1913–1981), founder of Litton Industries
Felix Tijerina (1905–1965), restaurateur
Chet Upham (1925–2008), oil and gas industrialist from Mineral Wells; former Texas Republican Party chairman, owner of Loveland Ski Area in Colorado
Sherron Watkins (born 1959), Vice President at the Enron Corporation, considered to be a whistleblower who helped uncover the Enron scandal
Edward Whitacre, Jr. (born 1941), chairman of the board and CEO of General Motors, chairman of the board and CEO of AT&T Inc.
Clayton Wheat Williams, Jr. (born 1931), oilman; Republican gubernatorial nominee, 1990
Clayton Wheat Williams, Sr. (1895–1983), oilman, geologist, rancher, historian
Angus G. Wynne (1914–1979), founder of Six Flags Over Texas and subsequent corporate theme parks