Richard Kinder

Richard D. Kinder
Born	(1944-10-19) October 19, 1944 Cape Girardeau, Missouri, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, executive chairman of Kinder Morgan Inc.
Known for	Co-founder of Kinder Morgan Inc.

Richard D. Kinder (born October 19, 1944) is an American entrepreneur and co-founder of Kinder Morgan Inc., a prominent energy and pipeline company, where he holds the position of executive chairman.

Early life

Richard Kinder was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri in 1944. He completed his undergraduate studies with a BA in 1966, followed by a JD degree in 1968 from the University of Missouri. During his time at university, he was affiliated with the Sigma Nu fraternity.

Career

Kinder launched his professional journey in the energy industry as a legal counsel for Florida Gas Transmission, which subsequently became part of Enron Corporation through mergers. A college acquaintance of founder Kenneth Lay, he advanced to become Enron’s president and chief operating officer between 1990 and 1996. He left Enron to establish a pipeline enterprise alongside William V. Morgan, purchasing Enron Liquids Pipeline for $40 million and merging with KN Energy. Through strategic acquisitions, notably including El Paso Corporation, Kinder Morgan evolved into North America’s largest midstream energy firm.

In addition to his corporate roles, Kinder chairs the board of trustees at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and leads the Kinder Foundation. His governance experience extends to board memberships at Baker Hughes, Transocean, and Waste Management, and he has served as chairman of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America. Politically engaged, Kinder has contributed to Republican campaigns such as Bush-Quayle (1992), Bush-Cheney (2004), John McCain (2008), among others.

In 2014, Forbes recognized Kinder as one of seven self-made billionaires from Houston, estimating his net worth at $11 billion. By 2020, he was ranked No. 103 on the Forbes 400 list.

Personal life

Kinder has been married twice and has one child from his initial marriage. His divorce was finalized in 1996, coinciding with his departure from Enron. In September 1997, he married Nancy McNeil, who had previously worked as Ken Lay’s assistant prior to Kinder’s exit from Enron and later participated in Rudy Giuliani’s 2007–2008 presidential campaign committee. The couple resides in Houston, Texas.

Kinder Foundation

The Kinder Foundation was created by Richard and Nancy Kinder to improve Greater Houston’s economic vitality and livability through philanthropic grants focused on urban green spaces, education initiatives, and community development. As of December 2022, the foundation has contributed more than $506.9 million.

Quality of Life

In 2010, the Kinders provided $15 million to Rice University for the support and renaming of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research. A further $50 million was granted in 2022 to enhance the institute’s work addressing urban issues in Houston.

The foundation pledged $50 million in 2013 to the Houston Parks Board for the Bayou Greenways 2020 Project, aimed at creating interconnected green corridors along Houston’s bayous.

In 2015, it donated $50 million toward redeveloping the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s 14-acre campus and followed with a $25 million challenge grant in 2018 to help complete a $450 million capital campaign. The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building officially opened in November 2020.

Supporting Houston’s historic Third Ward, the foundation has made significant investments: $750,000 for Emancipation Park’s rededication in 2016; $2 million in 2018 to PRH Preservation for affordable housing initiatives; and $1.5 million in 2019 to establish a senior living center affirming LGBTQ identities.

After Hurricane Harvey struck in 2017, the Kinder Foundation contributed nearly $3 million toward relief efforts including support for United Way of Greater Houston and local employee assistance funds.

During the COVID-19 crisis, it donated over $3.5 million to aid relief programs in Houston, including $1 million each allocated to the Houston Food Bank and the City of Houston’s rental assistance initiative.

Urban Greenspace

In 2008, the Kinder Foundation, together with other Houston-based charitable organizations, played a key role in creating Discovery Green, a 12-acre park located in downtown Houston, by contributing an initial $10 million. Two years later, in 2010, the foundation provided a $30 million seed grant toward the $58 million required to revitalize the 160-acre Buffalo Bayou Park, a project that reached completion in 2015. More recently, in September 2022, the foundation committed $100 million to the Buffalo Bayou Partnership to support Buffalo Bayou East, an ambitious $310 million expansion initiative spanning a decade to extend the park into Houston's East End.

To support the implementation of the Memorial Park Master Plan, the Kinder Foundation awarded a $70 million grant to the Memorial Park Conservancy in April 2018. By February 2023, the Conservancy had finished construction of the Kinder Land Bridge—a 100-acre green space bridging traffic corridors within Memorial Park—named in honor of the Kinder family.

Education

The Kinder Foundation made a $25 million donation in October 2015 to establish the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy at the University of Missouri. This was followed by an additional $10 million gift in November 2019 aimed at developing new undergraduate and graduate programs within both the Institute and the College of Arts and Science. In November 2022, another $25 million contribution was made to expand faculty and academic offerings, bringing the cumulative funding from Rich and Nancy Kinder and their foundation to $60 million.

Political activities

In 2015, Rich and Nancy Kinder contributed $2 million to a Super PAC backing Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush. The Kinders have also been prominent supporters of the Republican Party of Texas, donating $250,000 in 2019 to aid Texas Governor Greg Abbott.