Overview

Richard Kinder served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Enron Corporation from 1990 to 1996, a period when the company was still primarily a natural gas pipeline operator before the aggressive expansion into derivatives trading and off-balance-sheet finance that would eventually destroy it. He left Enron in December 1996, years before the fraud that would lead to the company's 2001 collapse, and went on to co-found Kinder Morgan with college friend William V. Morgan, building it into the largest midstream energy company in North America. Born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Kinder earned his BA (1966) and JD (1968) from the University of Missouri, where he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity and became friends with future Enron founder Kenneth Lay. After practicing law briefly, Kinder joined Florida Gas Transmission Company, which was later folded into what became Enron. After leaving Enron, Kinder purchased the Enron Liquids Pipeline for just $40 million, a deal that proved extraordinarily prescient as the asset became the foundation of the Kinder Morgan empire. The Wall Street Journal called him "The Luckiest Ex-Enron Employee" because of his fortuitous departure before the scandal erupted. Kinder married Nancy McNeil, who had been Kenneth Lay's assistant at Enron, in September 1997. He has given over $850 million in philanthropic grants through the Kinder Foundation, supporting education, parks, and civic projects primarily in Houston. Though never charged with any wrongdoing related to Enron, Kinder's tenure as President during the early 1990s overlapped with the beginning of the culture that would eventually produce the fraud.

Key Affiliations

Controversies & Concerns

Related Investigations (1)

Known Associates & Connections

Sources & Documentation

3 documented sources from official records, investigations, and reports