Kinder is richest

The rich get richer: Tilman Fertitta joins 12 Houston billionaires on Forbes 400list

Tilman Fertitta — a.k.a. "The World's Richest Restaurateur" — is a new to thebillionaires list, ranking No. 298.
Courtesy Photo
Rich Kinder, here with his wife Nancy, took the top spot in Houston, at No. 36on the national list.
Photo by Gary Fountain
Jeffrey Hildebrand, here with his wife Mindy, is the second richest man inHouston with an estimated net worth of $5.5 billion
Photo by © Michelle Watson/CatchlightGroup.com

Texas banked on the 2012 Forbes 400 list, with 46 of the billionaires calling the Lone Star State home. Wal-Mart heiress and Fort Worth resident Alice Walton (No. 8, with a net worth of $26.3 billion) and Austin computer colossus Michael Dell (No. 22, with $14.6 billion) took the top spots in the state, but Houston-area heavyweights weren't far behind.

Rich Kinder, chairman and CEO of Kinder Morgan, takes the title of the richest man in Houston at No. 36 on the list, up from No. 46 in last year's ranking with a net worth of $9.4 billion, up an estimated $3 billion from last year. Oilman Jeff Hildebrand has $5.5 billion in the bank, ranking No. 59 in America.

The four heirs of oilman Dan Duncan — Dannine Avara, Scott Duncan, Milane Frantz and Randa Williams, one of whom was allegedly identified as a target of a recent extortion plot — tied for No. 72 with $4.7 billion each.

Houston has added a new inductee to the Forbes 400: Tilman Fertitta, CEO and sole owner of locally-headquartered Landry's.

Last year, Houstonians counted former Astros owner Drayton McLane, Jr. among our ranks (although he actually calls Temple home), but he has since severed ties with the city.

Never fear! Houston has added a new inductee to the Forbes 400: Tilman Fertitta, CEO and sole owner of locally-headquartered Landry's, takes No. 298 with a net worth of $1.6 billion.

Fertitta made it to Forbes' list of The World's Billionaires in February and was profiled in the September issue of the magazine, in a piece that charted the restaurateur's ruthless upward trajectory over the years.

Other Bayou City billionaires include John Arnold, a former Enron trader who founded Centaurus Advisors and retired earlier this year at age 38, at No. 132; natural gas guru George Mitchell at No. 239; Houston Texans owner Robert McNair at No. 271; Toyota distributor Thomas Friedkin at No. 285; attorney Joe Jamail, Jr. at No. 311; oil man and Tennessee Titans owner Kenneth "Bud" Adams, Jr. at No. 388.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”