Everett Pierce Marshall (January 12, 1939 – June 20, 2006) was an American

petroleum industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...

executive. He was the beneficial owner of 16% of

Koch Industries Koch Industries, Inc. ( ) is an American privately held multinational conglomerate corporation based in Wichita, Kansas and is the second-largest privately held company in the United States, after Cargill. Its subsidiaries are involved in th ...

, which he received as an

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, Title (property), titles, debts, entitlements, Privilege (law), privileges, rights, and Law of obligations, obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ ...

from his father,

J. Howard Marshall II James Howard Marshall II (January 24, 1905 – August 4, 1995) was an American billionaire businessman, academic, and government official. He was involved with and invested in the petroleum industry via academic, government and commercial ende ...

. He spent the last 15 years of his life as a defendant in lawsuits by his stepmother,

Anna Nicole Smith Anna Nicole Smith (born Vickie Lynn Hogan; November 28, 1967 – February 8, 2007) was an American model, actress, and television personality. Smith started her career as a ''Playboy'' magazine centerfold in May 1992 and won the title of 1993 ...

, and his brother,

J. Howard Marshall III James Howard Marshall III (born February 6, 1936) is president and owner of MDH Industries, an electronics company based in Monrovia, California. He is the eldest son of J. Howard Marshall II, who owned 16% of Koch Industries. Conflict with hi ...

, who both sought part of his father's fortune after being left out of the

will and testament A will or testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property ( estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person ( executor) is to manage the property until its final distributi ...

Early life and education

Marshall attended

The Webb Schools The Webb Schools is the collective name for two private schools for grades 9-12, founded by Thompson Webb, located in Claremont, California. The Webb School of California for boys was established in 1922, and the Vivian Webb School for girls in 1 ...

Millersburg Military Institute Millersburg Military Institute (MMI) was a military boarding school founded in 1893 in Millersburg, Kentucky, about northeast of Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1893, it survived for over 113 years until closing in July 2006 due to a declining ...

, and then graduated from

Culver Military Academy Culver Academies is a college preparatory boarding school located in Culver, Indiana, which is composed of three entities: Culver Military Academy (CMA) for boys, Culver Girls Academy (CGA), and the Culver Summer Schools and Camps (CSSC). Culver ...

in 1956. He received an undergraduate degree from

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became ...

in 1961.

Career

Marshall began his career at

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

as an engine test engineer, followed by a brief tour with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. After leaving the Navy, Marshall worked for Loeb, Rhoades & Co., an

investment bank Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing is ...

in New York. In 1969, Marshall moved to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

to work with his father. At his brother's wedding in 1974, he and his brother were each given shares representing a 4% stake in

by their father,

, who said "these are the crown jewels, take care of them.” In 1980, the 4 sons of Fred C. Koch fought over control of

, founded by their father.

sided with Bill Koch and Frederick R. Koch, while Pierce and his father sided with

Charles Koch Charles de Ganahl Koch ( ; born November 1, 1935) is an American billionaire businessman. As of November 2022, he was ranked as the 13th richest person in the world on ''Bloomberg Billionaires Index'', with an estimated net worth of $66 billio ...

and

David Koch David Hamilton Koch ( ; May 3, 1940 – August 23, 2019) was an American businessman, political activist, philanthropist, and chemical engineer. In 1970, he joined the family business: Koch Industries, the second largest privately held c ...

resulting in

J. Howard Marshall James Howard Marshall II (January 24, 1905 – August 4, 1995) was an American billionaire businessman, academic, and government official. He was involved with and invested in the petroleum industry via academic, government and commercial ende ...

buying back the shares he had previously given

The company purchased the remaining shares of Bill, Frederick and others in 1983. From 1979 to 1981, he was Vice President of Finance of International Oil and Gas Corporation. During 1982, he managed his own investments. In 1983, he joined Weber, Hall, Sale and Associates, a stock brokerage firm in Dallas. In August 1986, he became the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of Electron Corporation, an iron foundry based in

Littleton, Colorado Littleton is a home rule municipality city located in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistica ...

. He also served as chairman since 1981, when his father-in-law died. He led Electron through a successful turnaround, saving over 300 jobs in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

and

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. When the health of his father,

, began to deteriorate in 1993, he ceased his securities brokerage business, delegated his responsibilities at Electron and assumed operational responsibilities at Marshall Petroleum. His father died in 1995, leaving the family fortune in trusts for the benefit of Pierce and leaving his brother,

, and his father's widow,

, out of the

. Smith and Marshall III sued, and Pierce and his father's estate were defendants in several cases including '' Marshall v. Marshall'' and ''

Stern v. Marshall ''Stern v. Marshall'', 564 U.S. 462 (2011), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a bankruptcy court, as a non-Article III court (i.e. courts without full judicial independence) lacked constitutional authority under ...

'', which both reached the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. In the end, the courts ruled that Marshall III and Smith had no rights to the estate. Although Pierce did not like the spotlight and dealing with lawyers, he refused to settle the cases because he believed he was fighting a crusade to honor the final wishes of his father.

Death

Marshall died on June 20, 2006, at the age of 67 as a result of

septic shock Septic shock is a potentially fatal medical condition that occurs when sepsis, which is organ injury or damage in response to infection, leads to dangerously low blood pressure and abnormalities in cellular metabolism. The Third International Con ...

brought on by a combination of

Staphylococcus ''Staphylococcus'' is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria in the family Staphylococcaceae from the order Bacillales. Under the microscope, they appear spherical (cocci), and form in grape-like clusters. ''Staphylococcus'' species are facultative ...

and

Streptococcus ''Streptococcus'' is a genus of gram-positive ' (plural ) or spherical bacteria that belongs to the family Streptococcaceae, within the order Lactobacillales (lactic acid bacteria), in the phylum Bacillota. Cell division in streptococci occurs ...

infections that were resistant to drugs. His shares in

then passed to trusts for the benefit of his wife,

Elaine Tettemer Marshall Elaine Tettemer Marshall (born July 22, 1942) is an American billionaire heiress. Trusts for the benefit of Marshall and her sons own the 16% beneficial interest in Koch Industries; formerly owned by her husband, E. Pierce Marshall, to whom she ...

, and his children, Preston Marshall and E. Pierce Marshall Jr.

Personal life

Marshall married

in 1965 and they had two sons: Preston Marshall and E. Pierce Marshall Jr. Marshall always said that his shares in Koch Industries were worth less than amounts indicated in published reports since the company had no plans to become a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...

and they were therefore illiquid. Marshall was a motorsports enthusiast and competed in the last running of the

Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash The Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, widely known as the Cannonball Baker or Cannonball Run, was an unofficial, unsanctioned automobile race run five times in the 1970s from New York City and Darien, Connecticut, on the Eas ...

, better known as the Cannonball Run, in April 1979. Teamed with

Sports Car Club of America The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional r ...

racers Dave Faust and Kirby Goodman, Marshall drove a

Chevrolet Malibu The Chevrolet Malibu is a mid-size car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet from 1964 to 1983 and again since 1997. The Malibu began as a trim-level of the Chevrolet Chevelle, becoming its own model line in 1978. Originally a rear-wheel-drive ...

with the 9C1 Police Patrol Package and a 350 cubic inch LT-1 Z-28

Chevrolet Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro share ...

engine, finishing 13th in a field of 47 competitors, completing the run from

Darien, Connecticut Darien ( ) is a coastal town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. With a population of 21,499 and a land area of just under 13 square miles, it is the smallest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast. It has the youngest population of any n ...

, to

Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach (Spanish for ''round'') is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent beach cities along the southern portion of Sa ...

, in 36 hours, 51 minutes. Marshall wrote, "Over two decades later, the laughs and the memories are still fresh. I was fortunate to be involved".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, E. Pierce 1939 births 2006 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople Culver Academies alumni Foundrymen Infectious disease deaths in Texas Marshall family People from Houston Pomona College alumni United States Navy sailors Deaths from staphylococcal infection Deaths from streptococcus infection