Richard Kinder is an American businessman and philanthropist who has a net worth of $11 billion dollars, which makes him one of the richest people in Texas. He was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and earned both is undergraduate and his law degrees from the University of Missouri.
He began his professional career in Texas, working as a lawyer and real estate investor. He then began working for the Enron Corporation, eventually serving as President and COO from 1990 to 1996. He left Enron to launch his own energy company with former classmate, William V. Morgan, and they subsequently purchased Enron Liquids Pipeline for $40 million; then merged it with KN Energy. Their company, known as Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, now owns the largest natural gas pipeline network in the United States, some 67,000 miles of lines. As part of the Kinder Foundation, Mr. Kinder donated $15 million to Rice University and another $30 million to improve parks and recreational areas in, and around, Houston, Texas. He is a life trustee of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and serves as Chairman of the Kinder Foundation. He previously served as a member of the board of Baker Hughes, Transocean and Waste Management, as a national board member of the Smithsonian Institution, and is a past Chairman of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America. A Republican, he campaigned for Bush-Quayle, for Bush-Cheney, for John McCain in 2008, and also campaigned for Kay Bailey Hutchison’s Senate campaign and Tom DeLay’s Congressional campaign. He is twice married, with one child from his first marriage; his divorce was in 1996, the same year he left Enron. He currently lives in Houston, Texas.
| Net Worth: | $11 Billion |
| Date of Birth: | Oct 19, 1944 (77 years old) |
| Gender: | Male |
| Profession: | Businessperson, Lawyer, Politician |
| Nationality: | United States of America |