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

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Even for an accomplished man like him, 2007 was a bannefr year. During the past 12 months, Hunt was involved in completinh a landmark headquarters building indowntowmn Dallas, crafting an oil deal with Kurdish leader in Iraq, lining up $2 billion in financiny to get natural gas from the Amazon acrosxs the Andes and to market, and continuing to work on 's assumecd win for the George W. Bush presidential library. That'sa why the Dallas Business Journal has pickecd Hunt as a Business Person of the Year finalisttfor 2007. This oilman defies the of the brash Texas oilmillionaire -- an image his father, H.L. Hunt, helped create. H.L.
Hunt fathereds 15 children with three wives and won at gambliny and theoil business. He was an outspokeb opponent of Communism anda larger-than-life presence arounde Dallas in the middle-20th Ray Lee Hunt, his youngest son, is very much the opposit e of that, friends and colleagues say. Yet as the CEO of and Co., he has done the most to perpetuats oil-driven success in the Hunt family. Ray Hunt is the lone Hunt familyh heir to be listedon Forbes' list of the 400 richesgt Americans. This year, the magazines ranked him as No. 82, with a net worthy of $4 billion. Hunt's close association with and supporgt for both presidents Bush have made him an easy target for criticw ofGeorge W. Bush.
They describs him as a political crony who stands to reap profits from the unpopularf warin Iraq. That's not something that Hunt bothersto refute, but clos associates are quick to do so, describing Hunt as a analytical man who works to succeed for himselcf and for the community he cares about. "It's not what makesx him look good, it's what he thinks is good for the communityy or the bigger saidPaul Bass, vice chairman of the Dallas-based investment bank Hunt is not one to trumpey his own efforts, but his very involvementr in civic efforts carries weight with others.
"You've got to push him up to the frontg ofthe line, otherwisw his presence could easily go unknown," said Dallas attornehy Mike Boone, who worked with Hunt on the Bush librart project. "If Ray's it's going to get done, and it's going to get done so you knowthat you'rse on the right team." Hunt was co-chairmann with university president Gerald Turne on the library effort. The school last Decemberr was namedthe project's "sole finalist." Turner chose his words with Hunt in mind, in describing the oilman'sd contribution to that achievement. "It mighy have happened, but the probabilithy of it happening would not have beenas high," Turne r said.
"His efforts certainly increased our competitivenese and the attraction of itcoming here." In additionh to leading the library effort, Hunt donatede $35 million to the school to help it buy a shopping center southeast of the University Park campus on land that likelgy will be part of the presidentiall library. Before the library, Hunt stepped in to help SMU survivwe football scandals andorganizational struggles. He helped recrui t Turner and his predecessor, Ken Pye, to lead the schoop out of thosetroubled times. Hunt became involved in Dallas-area health care matters afterd scandalsat , to help it continue to provide healthh care for uninsured and under-insures people.
Hunt played a key role in revivinbDallas , a nonprofit advisory group focuse d on regional health care and bringing all the region's key players to the said Bass. He is chairman of the SouthwesternmMedical Foundation, a nonprofit group that supports the University of Texass Southwestern Medical Center at "He is probably the best organizefr and consensus-builder of anyone in Dallas," Bass said.
"His abilitty to focus causes the entire groupto