Early life

He received a Bachelor of Science in Civil engineering

Civil engineering

Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...

 from the University of Texas at Arlington

University of Texas at Arlington

The University of Texas at Arlington is a public research university located in Arlington, Texas, United States. The campus is situated southwest of downtown Arlington, and is located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. The university was founded in 1895 and served primarily a military...

 in 1978.

Career

He started his career by 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, and President and CEO of RECO. 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

Lajitas, Texas

Lajitas is an unincorporated community in Brewster County, Texas, United States, in proximity to the Big Bend National Park.-Government:For many years the mayor of Lajitas was Clay Henry III, a "beer-drinking" goat...

 as a real estate

Real estate

In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...

 investment.

Music

In 2007, he co-founded his own recording studio

Recording studio

A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...

, Music Road Records, with Jimmy LaFave

Jimmy LaFave

Jimmy LaFave is an American singer-songwriter and folk musician born in Wills Point, Texas, a small farming community located near Dallas. At a young age, LaFave's family moved to the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, Texas where he attended junior high and high school. By the early teens LaFave was...

 and Fred Remmert. He collects music memorabilia like autograph

Autograph

An autograph is a document transcribed entirely in the handwriting of its author, as opposed to a typeset document or one written by an amanuensis or a copyist; the meaning overlaps with that of the word holograph.Autograph also refers to a person's artistic signature...

s of Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....

 and drumsticks signed by the Eagles. He has held private concert

Concert

A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...

s in his homes with musicians like Sam Baker

Sam Baker

Samuel or Sam Baker may refer to:*Sam Baker, AKA Samiyam, music artist*Sam Baker , author and former editor in chief of Cosmopolitan magazine...

.

Personal life

As of September 2011, he is the 595th richest person in the world, and the 212th richest in the United States, with an estimated wealth of $2 billion. In 2010, he bought a 3,500-acre ranch

Ranch

A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...

 in Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 for $46.5 million. He also owns a 8,000-acre ranch near Cherokee, Texas

Cherokee, Texas

Cherokee is an unincorporated community in San Saba County in Western Central Texas. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population of 175 in 2000.-Geography:Cherokee is located at...

 and a private island

Private island

A private island is a disconnected body of land wholly owned by a single private citizen or corporation. Although this exclusivity gives the owner substantial control over the property, they still fall within the jurisdiction of national and sometimes local governments.-Ownership:There are many...

 in the Honduras

Honduras

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...

. He is married with one child. He lives in Preston Hollow, Dallas, Texas

Preston Hollow, Dallas, Texas

Preston Hollow is a neighborhood in north Dallas, Texas, USA.-History:In 1924 Ira De-Loache bought a farm in 1924. Preston Hollow's first lots were carved out of the former farm parcels. De-Loache and Al Joyce developed Preston Hollow, with development largely occurring in the 1930s. Initially...

.