Richard Kinder Biography & Net Worth

Mr. Richard Kinder, an American billionaire businessman, is the executive chairman of the energy and pipeline corporation Kinder Morgan Inc., which he also co-founded. Born in October 1944 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in the US, he attended the University of Missouri where he earned both his B.A in 1966 and his J.D. in 1968, before launching the professional phase of his life as a lawyer and real estate entrepreneur in Houston, Texas. After he filed for bankruptcy, he found employment at Enron Corporation where he and founder Kenneth Lay has been friends since college. He served as the president and chief operating officer of Enron for six years until December 1996 when he left the company to team up with former college classmate William Morgan with whom he started a new pipeline company known as the Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, founded in 1997. They bought Enron Liquids Pipeline for 40 million dollars and merged with KN Energy. Their company now owns the largest pipeline network in the United States with some 75,000 miles of lines. It also has 180 storage terminals estimated to be able to handle 55 billion cubic feet of gas and 2.5 million barrels of oil a day. His own company and establishments aside, Mr. Kinder has served on the board of Baker Hughes as a member. He has also served on the board of directors of Waste Management, Inc. and Transocean. Furthermore, he is the director and vice-chairman of the Natural Petroleum Council, and the chairman of the board of Interstate Natural Gas Association of America and the Santa Fe Pacific Pipeline. Mr. Kinder also runs a philanthropic foundation that is devoted to enhancing the quality of life in Houston, Texas. The said foundation, called the Kinder Foundation, is currently worth $80 million in assets.  More details follow below.

Early Life

He was born Richard Kinder on October 19, 1944, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, United States.

In 1966, he graduated from the University of Missouri with his bachelor of art degree. Two years later, he completed his JD from his previous college.

Professional Life

After earning his JD, Richard Kinder started his career in the oil energy business as a lawyer with Florida Gas Transmission, which later became Enron Corporation following a series of mergers. From 1990 to December 1996, he served as the company’s president and chief operating officer.

After his resignation from Enron in 1996, he teamed up with William V. Morgan to start a new pipeline company, which they soon merged with KN Energy. After a series of acquisitions, the most noteworthy being El Paso Corporation, the Kinder Morgan name became known all over North America as the largest midstream energy company.

Mr. Richard Kinder, who previously served as a board member of Baker Hughes, Transocean and Waste Management, is the current chairman of the Kinder Foundation. He is also the chairman of the board of trustees of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. Additionally, he is the former chair of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America and a notable board member of the Smithsonian Institution.

Richard Kinder is a staunch Republican. He has campaigned for Bush-Quayle, Bush-Cheney, John McCain, and Kay Bailey Hutchison and Tom DeLay.

Personal Life

Richard Kinder is married to Nancy Kinder. They live in Houston, Texas together. He was married previously before divorcing in 1996. He has one child from his first marriage.

The couple started the Kinder Foundation in a bid to support and fund education and the Greater Houston area. Through the family foundation, Richard Kinder donated $15 million to Rice University in 2010. The foundation has funded projects that include the Houston Food Bank, the Texas Heart Institute, and the Bush Center at Southern Methodist University.

Rich Kinder Net Worth

As of 2022, Rich Kinder was listed as one of the wealthiest people in the United States by Forbes magazine. He also appears as one of the seven self-made billionaires of Houston on the list. Known to be one of the world’s wealthiest businessmen, Kinder has a net worth of over $11 billion dollars.

After starting his career as a lawyer and real estate investor in Texas, Richard Kinder went bankrupt as his job couldn’t sustain him at that time. His destiny began to change after he joined the Enron Corporation where he eventually landed the position of president and chief operating officer until his resignation in 1996 after which he launched his own energy company, which today, is named the owner of the largest natural gas pipeline network in America.