Frank William Gay (September 11, 1920 – May 21, 2007) was an American executive who oversaw several entities for

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

. He was chairman of the board of directors of the Hughes Air Corporation. He served as a senior vice president and member of the board of directors for the

Hughes Tool Company Hughes Tool Company was an American manufacturer of drill bits. Founded in 1908, it was merged into Baker Hughes Incorporated in 1987. History The company was established in December 1908 as Sharp-Hughes Tool Company when Howard R. Hughes Sr. ...

. He was also president and chief executive officer of Summa Corporation.

Background

Born in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, he was a student at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

when he was hired by Hughes. He was responsible for the creation of Hughes Dynamics, a short-lived computer services subsidiary of Hughes Tool in the early 1960s. A member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

, Gay put together the so-called "Mormon Mafia" that comprised Hughes's inner circle in his later life. Appointed by the

Delaware Court of Chancery The Delaware Court of Chancery is a court of equity in the American state of Delaware. It is one of Delaware's three constitutional courts, along with the Supreme Court and Superior Court. Since 2018, the court consists of seven judges. The chie ...

, Gay served as trustee of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 1984 until his retirement in 2006. He had previously served on the Institute's executive committee from 1971 to 1984. He was an active supporter of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...

. His son is Robert C. Gay, a co-founder and CEO of Huntsman Gay Global Capital, and before that managing director of

Bain Capital Bain Capital is an American private investment firm based in Boston. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, public equity, impact investing, life sciences, and real estate. Bain Capital invests across a range of industry se ...

for sixteen years. Gay died in

Kingwood, Texas Kingwood is a 14,000 acre (57 km²) master-planned community located in northeast Houston, Texas, United States. The majority of the community is located in Harris County with a small portion in Montgomery County. Known as the "Livable F ...

in 2007.Foy, Paul (May 24, 2007)
Frank Gay, corporate aide to Howard Hughes, dies at 86.
''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

References

External links

In Memoriam: Frank William Gay
via Howard Hughes Medical Institute 1920 births 2007 deaths Businesspeople from Salt Lake City University of California, Los Angeles alumni Latter Day Saints from Utah 20th-century American businesspeople Latter Day Saints from California {{US-business-bio-1920s-stub