James W. Walter Sr. (September 18, 1922 – January 6, 2000), of

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, United States, was a home builder who started ''Jim Walter Homes'' and ''Walter Industries'', now doing business as

Walter Energy Walter Energy, Inc. was a publicly traded "pure play" metallurgical coal producer for the global steel industry. The company also produced natural gas, steam coal and industrial coal, anthracite, metallurgical coke, and coal bed methane gas. C ...

, Inc., a leading producer of metallurgical coal for the global steel industry, in 1946 with $1,000 he borrowed from his father. Walter eventually sold the company in 1986 for $2 billion to

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strate ...

(KKR). Walter was the son of Ebe and Mabel Walter. The book ''Building a Business: The Jim Walter Story'' tells his story. His wife, Monica Walter, died in 1982, leaving two sons, James W. Walter Jr. and Robert Walter. The western section of what was known as Columbus Drive was renamed Jim Walter Boulevard in 2003.

Jim Walter Homes

Jim Walter Homes were "shell" homes, meaning the company would complete the outside so that the house was watertight, then allow the customer to finish the inside with their own labor. The company would also sell most of the inside materials, including sheetrock, insulation, doors and carpet to the customer and include them in the purchase. The result was very affordable mortgage payments, usually for 20 years. The only requirement from the company was that the customer had owned the land on which the house was constructed, meaning that in the case of

foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...

the company got not only a (potentially never-finished) house but a building lot as well. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, when mortgage rates went as high as 15%, Jim Walter offered 10% financing with no money down. In 1961 Walter bought Celotex using just stock in Jim Walter Homes. ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' wrote, " Jonah has just swallowed the whale." In 1968, Walter bought US Pipe and Foundry. Later, Walter acquired Fry Roofing, Georgia Marble, and various other building material companies. In 1988,

acquired Jim Walter Corp. (later Walter Industries) for $3.3 billion in early 1988 but faced issues with the buyout almost immediately. Most notably, a subsidiary of Jim Walter Corp (Celotex) faced a large

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

lawsuit and incurred liabilities that the courts ruled would need to be satisfied by the parent company. In 1989, the holding company that

KKR KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strateg ...

used for the Jim Walter buyout filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

protection. Walter Industries, its parent, closed Jim Walter Homes in January 2009, just prior to the separation of its related financing business. Upon separation of Financing, Walter Industries, which in 2008 derived most of its revenues from its core natural resources and energy businesses, rebranded itself Walter Energy, reflecting its focus on its these core businesses.

References

Notes Further reading *

External links

Walter Energy

Celotex Asbestos Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walter, James W. Sr. 1922 births 2000 deaths People from Tampa, Florida 20th-century American businesspeople Home builders