John Hugh Liedtke (February 10, 1922 – March 28, 2003) was an American petroleum executive.

Early life

John Hugh Liedtke was born on February 10, 1922, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. During

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 ...

, he served in the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

. Liedtke graduated from Amherst College in three years with a bachelor's degree, Harvard Business School with an MBA, and

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...

Career

Liedtke moved to

Midland, Texas Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States. A small part of Midland is in Martin County. At the 2020 census, Midland's population was 132,524. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas metropolitan ...

, then opened a

law practice In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professi ...

with his brother,

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, in 1949. With the future President of the United States George H. W. Bush, the two brothers co-founded the

Zapata Corporation HRG Group, Inc., formerly Harbinger Group Inc. and Zapata Corporation, is a holding company based in Rochester, New York, having originated from an oil company started by a group including future U.S. president George H. W. Bush. In 2009, it w ...

in 1953. In the 1960s the Liedtke brothers acquired control of the South Penn Oil Company and merged it with Zapata to form a new company they called Pennzoil. In the 1980s, during his time as CEO of Pennzoil, he led the company to a court victory over

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company unt ...

Death

Liedtke died on March 28, 2003, in Houston, Texas.

References

External links

* 1922 births 2003 deaths American businesspeople in the oil industry Amherst College alumni Harvard Business School alumni Businesspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma University of Texas School of Law alumni United States Navy officers 20th-century American businesspeople American military personnel of World War II {{Oklahoma-stub