Ray C. Davis is an American businessman. He served as the co-
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
(CEO) and chairman for
Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) and chairman of
Energy Transfer Equity (ETE). He is co-owner and co-chairman of the
Texas Rangers of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB).
Davis worked in the
energy industry
The energy industry is the totality of all of the industries involved in the production and sale of energy, including fuel extraction, manufacturing, refining and distribution. Modern society consumes large amounts of fuel, and the energy indu ...
for forty years, until he retired as the CEO of ETP and ETE in 2007. He remained with the company as a director and operates Avatar Investments LP, a
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
-based investment firm. In 2008, Davis made his first appearance on the
Forbes 400
The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is publ ...
list, ranking 367th with a
net worth
Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Since financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, net ...
of $1 billion. In 2012, he ranked 315th with a net worth of $1.5 billion,
[ and he ranked 296th in 2013 with a net worth of $1.9 billion.
When the Rangers were put up for sale in 2010, Davis joined a group headed by Chuck Greenberg and ]Nolan Ryan
Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanning four decades, Ryan ...
, which purchased the club. Davis and Bob R. Simpson provided the majority of the $593 million sale price. Davis and Simpson became co-chairmen of the Rangers, but remained mostly behind the scenes as senior consultants while allowing Greenberg and Ryan to operate the team as CEO and president, respectively. This arrangement continued after Greenberg left in 2011 and ceded his post as CEO to Ryan. Following Ryan's resignation from the Rangers in 2013, MLB approved the Rangers' request to have Davis replace Ryan as the team's control person, thus making him the primary person accountable to the commissioner's office for the team's operations. However, President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Jon Daniels
Jon Daniels (born August 24, 1977) is an American baseball executive senior advisor for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He recently served as the President of Baseball Operations for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (M ...
serves as operating head of the franchise; Davis and Simpson have continued to stay in the background as senior consultants.
Davis is a somewhat reclusive man who prefers to avoid the limelight. In 2010, he rebuffed an attempt by D Magazine
''D Magazine'' is a monthly magazine covering Dallas–Fort Worth. It is headquartered in Downtown Dallas.
''D Magazine'' covers a range of topics including politics, business, food, fashion and lifestyle in the city of Dallas. The first iss ...
to get a comment on his purchase of the Rangers, saying that he doesn't grant interviews.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Ray
Living people
Texas Rangers owners
American energy industry businesspeople
American corporate directors
American billionaires
Year of birth missing (living people)