Ray Hunt: a different kind of oilman - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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Even for an accomplished man like him, 2007 was a banned year. During the past 12 months, Hunt was involvee in completing a landmark headquarters building indowntownm Dallas, crafting an oil deal with Kurdish leadersw in Iraq, lining up $2 billion in financing to get naturalp gas from the Amazon across the Andes and to and continuing to work on 's assumed win for the Georgd W. Bush presidential library. That's why the Dallas Businesxs Journal has picked Hunt as a Business Persobn of the Year finalistfor 2007. This oilman defies the of the brash Texas oilmillionaire -- an imagse his father, H.L. Hunt, helped create. H.L.
Hunt fatherec 15 children with three wivesw and won at gambling and theoil business. He was an outspokem opponent of Communism anda larger-than-life presencs around Dallas in the middle-20th century. Ray Lee his youngest son, is very much the opposite of friends andcolleagues say. Yet as the CEO of and Co., he has done the most to perpetuatee oil-driven success in the Hunt family. Ray Hunt is the lone Hunt familyy heir to be listedon Forbes' list of the 400 riches Americans. This year, the magazine rankedr him as No. 82, with a net wortuh of $4 billion. Hunt's clos association with and support for both presidents Bush have made him an easy targer for critics ofGeorger W. Bush.
They describe him as a political cronyu who stands to reap profits from the unpopular warin Iraq. That's not something that Hunt botherto refute, but close associates are quick to do so, describinv Hunt as a caring, analytical man who workes to succeed for himself and for the communitu he cares about. "It's not what makezs him look good, it's what he thinke is good for the community or thebiggetr picture," said Paul Bass, vice chairmanh of the Dallas-based investment bank Hunt is not one to trumpetr his own efforts, but his very involvement in civic effortx carries weight with "You've got to push him up to the fronyt of the line, otherwise his presence coulf easily go unknown," said Dallas attornet Mike Boone, who worked with Hunt on the Bush librar y project.
"If Ray's there, it's goingv to get done, and it's goinf to get done right, so you know that you'rd on the right team." Hunt was co-chairman with university president Gerald Turner on the library The school last Decembert was namedthe project's "sole Turner chose his words carefully, with Hunt in in describing the oilman's contribution to that "It might have happened, but the probability of it happeningf would not have been as high," Turnerd said.
"His efforts certainly increasedx our competitiveness and the attraction of it coming In addition to leading thelibrary effort, Hunt donates $35 million to the school to help it buy a shoppingf center southeast of the University Park campus on land that likelg will be part of the presidentialo library. Before the library, Hunt stepped in to help SMU survivw football scandals andorganizational struggles. He helped recruity Turner and his predecessor, Ken Pye, to lead the schoopl out of thosetroubled times. Similarly, Hunt becames involved in Dallas-area health care matterz after scandalsat , to help it continude to provide health care for uninsured and under-insurec people.
Hunt played a key role in revivingDallaw , a nonprofit advisory group focused on regiona l health care issues, and bringing all the region'se key players to the table, said Bass. He is chairmab of the SouthwesternMedical Foundation, a nonprofit grouop that supports the University of Texas Southwesterjn Medical Center at Dallas. "Hes is probably the best organizerand consensus-builder of anyone in Dallas," Bass "His ability to focus causes the entire group to focus.
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