Trevor D. Rees-Jones (born 1951) is an American attorney,

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...

businessman, and philanthropist from Texas. He is the founder and chairman of

Chief Oil and Gas Chief Oil & Gas is a company founded in Dallas, Texas in 1994 by Trevor Rees-Jones. Its primary holdings of natural gas were developed in the core areas of the Barnett Shale in Tarrant County, Denton County and Parker County. In 1999, new t ...

. He has a net worth of approximately $4.4 billion.

Early life

Trevor D. Rees-Jones was born in 1951. He grew up in University Park, Texas, Dallas, the eldest of three children of Trevor William Rees-Jones (1923–2009) and Billye June Kay of Dallas (1924–2008). He achieved the rank of Eagle Scout out of Boy Scout Troop 70 in 1966. His father was a lawyer with

Locke Liddell & Sapp Locke Lord LLP is an international law firm formed on October 2, 2007, after the combination of Texas-based Locke Liddell & Sapp PLLC and Lord Bissell & Brook LLP. Locke Lord's earliest predecessor firms date from 1887 and 1891. The firm is hea ...

in Dallas. His paternal grandfather, David Rees-Jones, was a Presbyterian minister from Trefor, Wales who immigrated to the United States to serve as a pastor in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

and Texas. His paternal grandmother, Mary Edith Holmes, was a secretary for William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme from

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, England; she immigrated to the United States with her husband. Rees-Jones was educated at Highland Park High School, University Park, Dallas. Rees-Jones graduated from Dartmouth College, and studied law at Southern Methodist University's Dedman School of Law, where he received his J.D.Dartmouth College Trustees
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Career

He started his career as a bankruptcy attorney in Dallas. Later, he practiced oil and gas reorganization law with Thompson & Knight. In 1984, he began pursuing oil and gas investments. He founded Chief Oil & Gas a decade later, in 1994. The company has been active in the Barnett Shale, a geological formation located in the Bend Arch–Fort Worth Basin. He has served as President of the Dallas Petroleum Club and the Dallas Hardhatters Committee (now known as the Dallas Wildcatters Committee).

Philanthropy

In 2006, Trevor Rees-Jones and his wife founded the Rees-Jones Foundation, a private foundation established primarily to support and funding for programs that help improve the quality of life for the people of North Texas. Major recipients of grants from the foundation include the Boy Scouts of America's Circle Ten Council, the

Dallas Arboretum The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 8525 Garland Road in East Dallas, Texas, on the southeastern shore of White Rock Lake. History The majority of the grounds were once part of a estate known as ''Rancho ...

, the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science and the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center. The foundation gave grants of over $40 million in both 2008 and 2010. He served on the

board of trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of his alma mater, Dartmouth College, from 2010 to 2014. He serves on the board of trustees of Texas Christian University and on the board of advisors of its Energy Institute. The Perot Museum of Nature and Science, created in 2006 by Rees-Jones' friend and business partner, fellow billionaire

Ross Perot Henry Ross Perot (; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American business magnate, billionaire, politician and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an inde ...

includes the Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones Exhibition Hall, the subject of a $25 million donation. Rees-Jones also made a large donation to Parkland Memorial Hospital's campaign for its new facility.

Political donations

Rees-Jones has emerged as a large donor to the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

and gave $1 million to

American Crossroads American Crossroads is a US Super PAC that raises funds from donors to advocate for certain candidates of the Republican Party. It has pioneered many of the new methods of fundraising opened up by the Supreme Court's ruling in ''Citizens United ...

in 2010. In 2015, Rees-Jones and his wife donated $2 million to the presidential candidacy of Jeb Bush.

Personal life

Rees-Jones and his wife Jan live in a 10,700 sq ft house in Dallas, Texas, valued by '' D Magazine'' at $13 million in 2011. They attend the Highland Park Presbyterian Church. They are also members of the Dallas Country Club. Rees-Jones owns Cook Canyon Ranch near Ranger, Texas. In October 2010, he paid the pop singer

Jon Bon Jovi John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was formed in 1983. He ...

to play at a party there. For his 60th birthday party in August 2011,

Dan Aykroyd Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1979). During his tenure on ''SNL'' ...

, Jim Belushi and the Blues Brothers Band performed as the opening act, followed by The Eagles, who played a two-hour set. There were 25–30 private jets at the ranch's airstrip. They have two sons, Trevor Richard Rees-Jones, III, and David Rees-Jones, both of whom were Texas Christian University students in 2011. On 18 October 2014, Trevor Richard Rees-Jones, III, married Jennifer Hall Ebeier of Fort Worth at Rees-Jones' Cook Canyon Ranch.

References

External links

The Rees-Jones Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees-Jones, Trevor Living people 1951 births Businesspeople from Dallas Highland Park High School (University Park, Texas) alumni Dartmouth College alumni Dedman School of Law alumni American lawyers American energy industry executives American company founders American businesspeople in the oil industry American billionaires Ranchers from Texas Philanthropists from Texas Texas Republicans American Presbyterians Texas Christian University people American people of English descent American people of Welsh descent People from University Park, Texas