Stephen Davison Bechtel Jr. (May 10, 1925 – March 15, 2021) was an American billionaire, businessman, civil engineer, and co-owner of the

Bechtel Corporation Bechtel Corporation () is an American engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in San Francisco, California, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia. , the '' Engineering News-Record'' ranked Bechtel as ...

. He was the son of Stephen Davison Bechtel Sr. and grandson of

Warren A. Bechtel Warren Abraham Bechtel (September 12, 1872 – August 28, 1933) was the founder of the Bechtel Corporation, the 2nd largest construction company in the United States as of 2022. Early life Warren Abraham Bechtel was born on September 12, 1872, ...

, who founded the Bechtel Corporation. He was known for expanding the global footprint of the corporation through several of its international projects. Some of the projects executed under his leadership of the company included

King Khalid International Airport King Khalid International Airport ( ar, مطار الملك خالد الدولي ', ) is located north of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, designed by the architectural firm HOK, and Arabian Bechtel Company Limited served as the construction manager o ...

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of th ...

as well as

Jubail Industrial City Jubail Industrial City, the world's largest industrial city, was established in 1975 and is located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. It covers 1,016 square kilometers and includes industrial complexes and port facilities. It contributes t ...

in Saudi Arabia as well as oil platforms in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

liquefied natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the vol ...

plants in Algeria, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates. Bechtel also served on the board of General Motors and International Business Machines. He had a bachelor's degree from the

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

and a master's degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. At the time of his death, he had a net worth of nearly

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

3 billion according to ''Forbes''.

Early life

Bechtel was born in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, on May 10, 1925. He was the son of Laura A. Peart and Stephen Bechtel Sr., and the grandson of

, the founder of American construction and civil engineering firm

. During his time in high school, he enlisted in

Marine Corps Reserve The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. It is the largest command, by assigned p ...

, and went to

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

to study engineering. In 1946, he graduated from

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in civil engineering, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi, and married Elizabeth "Betty" Mead Hogan, a Berkeley alumna. He earned his

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1948.

Career

Bechtel joined the family business in 1948. While he initially wanted to enter into home building, he was convinced by his father by showcasing Bechtel Corporation's global projects in a three week trip. He succeeded his father, Stephen Bechtel Sr., as president of Bechtel Corporation in 1960 and chairman in 1969. His career with the company spanned 30 years until his retirement in 1990. During his time, the company which was earlier known for its work on the Hoover Dam and the Bay Area Rapid Transit, expanded its global footprint by working on the Channel Tunnel between France and the United Kingdom,

as well as

in Saudi Arabia. The last is considered one of the largest civil engineering projects of the time. The company was involved in the build out of oil platforms in the

plants in Algeria, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates, and also in the cleanup of the nuclear reactor site Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. The company's role in Boston's infrastructure projects, titled

Big Dig The Central Artery/Tunnel Project (CA/T Project), commonly known as the Big Dig, was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the Central Artery of Interstate 93 (I-93), the chief highway through the heart of the city, into the 1.5-mile (2.4&n ...

, in the 1990s came into scrutiny, with the company having to pay to settle litigation over a ceiling collapse and leaky tunnels. Earlier, the company had been charged by the

US Justice Department The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

in 1976 of illegally complying with the Arab League boycott of Israel, and had also faced criticism for undertaking projects in

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

's Iraq of the 1980s. During his leadership, the

1980s oil glut The 1980s oil glut was a serious surplus of crude oil caused by falling demand following the 1970s energy crisis. The world price of oil had peaked in 1980 at over US$35 per barrel (equivalent to $ per barrel in dollars, when adjusted for inf ...

and the resulting plunge in oil prices resulted in reduced spend by the middle-eastern countries on infrastructure projects including petroleum pipelines, resulting in a significant impact to the company's business. In addition to retrenchments of about half of its 44,000 member large workforce, the company under Bechtel's leadership undertook

financial engineering Financial engineering is a multidisciplinary field involving financial theory, methods of engineering, tools of mathematics and the practice of programming. It has also been defined as the application of technical methods, especially from mathem ...

actions including taking part ownership in some of the infrastructure projects. During his time the company, over three decades, the company's revenues grew eleven-fold, and the company also pivoted from majority ownership residing within the family to a model that had majority ownership by managers outside of the family. He held 20 percent of the company shares and his net worth in 2021 was estimated by ''

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 ...

'' to be $2.9 billion. After his retirement from Bechtel Corporation, he headed the real estate company

Fremont Group Fremont Group is a private investment group based in San Francisco, California, United States. It was formerly known as Bechtel Investments up until 1993, reflecting its ownership by the Bechtel family. In 1993, its name was officially changed to ...

, which was also an early investor in Starbucks Corporation. He had also served as director on the board of General Motors and International Business Machines.

Political appointments

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

appointed Bechtel to the President’s Committee on Urban Housing.

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

named him to membership on the National Industrial Pollution Control Council, the National Commission on Productivity, the Labor Management Advisory Committee, and the National Commission for Industrial Peace. Gerald Ford asked Bechtel to serve on the President’s Labor-Management Committee.

Boy Scouts

Bechtel became an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle S ...

in 1940 and has been recognized by 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 ...

with both the

Distinguished Eagle Scout Award The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (DESA) is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). It is awarded to an Eagle Scout for distinguished service in his profession and to his community for a period of at least 25 years aft ...

and the

Silver Buffalo Award The Silver Buffalo Award is the national-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. It is presented for noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth on a national basis, either as part of, or independent of the Scouting pro ...

. Stephen's uncle Kenneth K. Bechtel was awarded the Silver Buffalo in 1950 and served as national president of the Boy Scouts of America from 1956 to 1959. The BSA acquired new property near Beckley, West Virginia, for a new high adventure base in 2009. Bechtel donated $50 million towards the new base, which has been named

The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve, often shortened as Summit Bechtel Reserve (SBR), located in Fayette and Raleigh counties, near Beckley, West Virginia, is one of four facilities managed by the National Council of the Boy Scou ...

Philanthropy

Bechtel was a contributor to many environmental causes. He created a foundation in 1957 to support these cases. The foundation contributed $50 million to create a National Scout Reserve in southern

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

, which is now the home of the national boy scout jamboree. The foundation contributed $25 million to renovate the Presidio of San Francisco. The S. D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation and the Stephen Bechtel Fund support many non-profit groups, especially in the San Francisco Bay area. Stephen and Betty's largess also extended to Berkeley's International House,

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...

, Achievement Rewards for College Scientists, the San Francisco Symphony, the

San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Fra ...

, the Head Royce School, the

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the ...

, the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

, the American Friends of the Royal Academy Trust, the

Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nat ...

, the Royal Oak Foundation, the

Huntington Library The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) and Arabella Huntington (c.1851–1924) in San Ma ...

, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Awards and honors

Bechtel was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

in 1990. He is the 1980 recipient of the

Hoover Medal The Hoover Medal is an American engineering prize. It has been given since 1930 for "outstanding extra-career services by engineers to humanity". The prize is given jointly by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Institute of Mi ...

, which commemorates the civic and humanitarian achievements of engineers. In 1990, he was elevated to National Honor Member by

Chi Epsilon Chi Epsilon () is an American civil engineering honor society. It honors engineering students in the United States who have exemplified the "principles of scholarship, character, practicality, and sociability...in the civil engineering pr ...

, the national civil engineering honor society. In 1998, he and his son Riley were presented with the

Honor Award The National Building Museum promotes excellence in architecture, engineering, construction, planning, and design. In furtherance of that mission, the Museum instituted an annual Honor Award in 1986 to recognize individuals and organizations that ...

from the National Building Museum for their company's contributions to the built environment. Bechtel received the Award of Excellence from ''Engineering News-Record'' for his leadership of Bechtel Corporation. He received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 1991, from the then US President, George H. W. Bush.

Personal life

Bechtel and his wife, Betty, had two sons and three daughters. One son, Riley Bechtel, succeeded him as the chairman and chief executive of the

. He was a nature enthusiast and hiker who had once made the trek to the

Everest base camp There are two base camps on Mount Everest, on opposite sides of the mountains: South Base Camp is in Nepal at an altitude of (), while North Base Camp is in Tibet, China at (). The base camps are rudimentary campsites at the base of Mount Eve ...

and had also hiked the

John Muir Trail The John Muir Trail (JMT) ( Paiute: Nüümü Poyo, ''N-ue-mue Poh-yo'') is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, passing through Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. From the northern terminus a ...

over a 211 mile course. Bechtel died on March 15, 2021, at his home in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, California. He was aged 95.

Books

References

External links

National Academy of Engineering: 1999 Founders Award Recipient"Stephen Bechtel Jr.", ''Bechtel Corporation''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bechtel, Stephen 1925 births 2021 deaths American billionaires American chief executives Bechtel California Institute of Technology trustees Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences National Medal of Technology recipients Purdue University College of Engineering alumni Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople 20th-century American philanthropists 21st-century American philanthropists Businesspeople from Oakland, California Philanthropists from California United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II United States Marine Corps reservists Hikers