The Santa Fe Pacific Corporation was formed as the Santa Fe Southern Pacific Corporation on by the merger of

Santa Fe Industries Santa Fe Industries was the diversified parent company, headquartered in Chicago, of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Formed in 1968, its non-railroad operations included construction, real estate, and energy units. In the early 1980 ...

, which owned the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

, with the

Southern Pacific Company Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, ...

, which owned the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

. After the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...

denied their plan to merge their railroads as the

Southern Pacific Santa Fe Railroad Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, ...

, the holding company name was shortened, and the Southern Pacific Railroad sold. The holding company retained all the non-rail interests of both predecessors; these were mainly real estate and natural resources, but Southern Pacific had also formed the telephone company known as Sprint, which was sold shortly before the merger. It was initially headquartered in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and later in

Schaumburg, Illinois Schaumburg ( ) is a village mostly in Cook County and partly in DuPage County in northeastern Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 78,723. Schaumburg is around northwest of the Chicago Loop and northwest of O'Hare I ...

. Former Southern Pacific executive

Robert Krebs Robert D. Krebs is an American railroad executive who has headed three major United States railroads in succession, leading the Southern Pacific (SP) when it was acquired by Santa Fe Industries, rising to lead the resulting Santa Fe Pacific Corpo ...

succeeded Santa Fe head John J. Schmidt as

CEO 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 ...

. Almost immediately after the Southern Pacific was sold, Santa Fe Pacific issued a massive dividend. It was so large that it was considered a

return of capital Return of capital (ROC) refers to principal payments back to "capital owners" (shareholders, partners, unitholders) that exceed the growth (net income/taxable income) of a business or investment. It should not be confused with Rate of Return (ROR ...

, and financed by issuing a large amount of debt. A few years after that, they spun off most of the company's natural resources interests as Santa Fe Pacific Corporation. They also spun off all their non-track real estate interests, including railway stations, as Catellus Development. In September 1995 what was left of the company merged into

Burlington Northern The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroadin ...

. The Santa Fe railroad became part of the

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC is the parent company of the BNSF Railway (formerly the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway). The company is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which is controlled by investor Warre ...

. Robert Krebs served as CEO of the merged company, serving until his retirement. The Santa Fe Pacific Corporation was not related to the

Santa Fe Pacific Railroad The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad was a U.S. railroad that owned or operated two disjointed segments, one connecting St. Louis, Missouri with Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the other connecting Albuquerque, New Mexico with Needles, California, Needles in ...

, which operated from 1897 to 1902.

References

{{Authority control United States railroad holding companies Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Southern Pacific Railroad Companies based in Chicago Schaumburg, Illinois BNSF Railway