Rodney Ray Lewis, known as Rod Lewis (born 1954), is founder, president, and

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 especiall ...

of Lewis Energy, an oil and

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...

drilling company based in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, US.

Biography

Lewis was born and raised on a

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most ofte ...

in Laredo in Webb County in

South Texas South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 4.96 ...

. His father was a pilot in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

.Christopher Helman and Jesse Bogan, 'The Crossing', in ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' magazine, 08.07.0

He graduated from what is now Texas A&M International University in Laredo with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

. He started his career in the oil industry by working for Stampede Energy and for the R.L. Burns Corporation. He purchased his first

oil well An oil well is a drillhole boring in Earth that is designed to bring petroleum oil hydrocarbons to the surface. Usually some natural gas is released as associated petroleum gas along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce only gas ma ...

for $13,000 in 1982 and launched Lewis Energy the next year. In 1995, he borrowed $5 million from

Enron Capital & Trade Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. B ...

and repaid the loan in eight months. Alongside drilling in

, he has drilled in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

for

Pemex Pemex (a portmanteau of Petróleos Mexicanos, which translates to ''Mexican Petroleum'' in English; ) is the Mexican state-owned petroleum company managed and operated by the Mexican government. It was formed in 1938 by nationalization and expr ...

, and in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

for Hupecol Caracara and

Solana Resources Solana is the Spanish word for the "sunny side" of a mount or valley. It may refer to: Places * La Solana, a municipality in Castile-La Mancha, Spain * Solana, Cagayan, a municipality in the Philippines * Solana de Ávila, a municipality in Ca ...

. In 2003, he sold much of his Texas pipelines to

Dan Duncan Dan L Duncan (January 2, 1933 – March 29, 2010) was an American born in Center, Texas. He was the co-founder, chairman and majority shareholder of Enterprise Products. Early life and education Duncan was born in 1933 in rural Shelby County, ...

, the CEO of

Enterprise Products Partners Enterprise Products Partners L.P. () is an American midstream natural gas and crude oil pipeline company with headquarters in Houston, Texas. It acquired GulfTerra in September 2004. The company ranked No. 105 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of t ...

. He is the first American wildcatter to drill in Mexico since former President

Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Born in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, to a working-class family, Cárdenas joined the Me ...

made it illegal for anyone but the Mexican government to do so. ''

'' magazine called Lewis "the only

gringo ''Gringo'' (, , ) (masculine) (or ''gringa'' (feminine)) is a term in Spanish and Portuguese for a foreigner, usually an English-speaking Anglo-American. There are differences in meaning depending on region and country. In Latin America, it is ...

allowed to drill in Mexico." He can collect as much as $350 million annually from Pemex for drilling on 80,000 acres near the border. He does not own the oil or natural gas but is compensated for drilling the land. Lewis owns at least 350,000 acres of the Eagle Ford Shale property. In 2010, British Petroleum began drilling on 80,000 acres of Eagle Ford Shale property that Lewis owns. As of March 2018, he is the 1,756th richest person in the world. He is worth US$1.3 billion. He collects

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

-era planes, and he owns 30, including Glacier Girl, which he bought for $10 million.Christopher Helman and Jesse Bogan, 'A Wildcatter in Love with Warbirds', in ''Forbes'' magazine, 08.13.0

Patrick Danner of ''

San Antonio Express-News The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the state of Texas, with ...

'' staff, "Lewis, wife marriage breakup", ''

Laredo Morning Times The ''Laredo Morning Times'' is a daily newspaper publication based in Laredo, Texas, USA. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation Hearst Communications, Inc., often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American multinational mass media and busi ...

'', June 12, 2013, pp. 1, 10A Since 2012 or 2013 he is the owner of M5, the largest single-masted yacht ever built. Lewis and his wife, the former Kimberly Annette Spicer (born c. 1958), have four adult children. He also owns a ranch in Encinal north of Laredo. Lewis is a survivor of

esophageal cancer Esophageal cancer is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. Other symptoms may include pain when swallowing, a hoarse voi ...

but lost his

salivary gland The salivary glands in mammals are exocrine glands that produce saliva through a system of ducts. Humans have three paired major salivary glands ( parotid, submandibular, and sublingual), as well as hundreds of minor salivary glands. Salivary ...

s in treatment. In March 2013, Mrs. Lewis filed for divorce in the Bexar County Courthouse. There is no mention of a pre-nuptial agreement, and Texas is a community property state. At least thirteen lawsuits are involved in the Lewis' marital squabbles. Mrs. Lewis is asking that her husband pay her legal fees in the dispute. Rod Lewis stated in an interview that he loved his wife and that he had no intention of divorcing her. Lewis and she later reconciled and continue to attend public events together. The Rod and Kim Lewis Foundation donates grants to charitable organizations. Lewis provided the furnishing of the three-story Lewis Energy Academic Center, which opened in January 2012 on the campus of Laredo Community College. In August 2014, Lewis was named recipient of the annual Angel of Hope Award for his work in providing

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

gifts to needy children in Webb County. Angel of Hope was originated by the constable's office of Webb County Precinct 1.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Rodney 1954 births Living people American billionaires American businesspeople in the oil industry Businesspeople from Texas Wildcatters Philanthropists from Texas Texas A&M International University alumni People from Laredo, Texas People from San Antonio Ranchers from Texas