In great company

Houston financial powerhouse among 6 tycoons inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame

2 Anita and Gerald Smith at Heart Ball February 2014

Houstonian Gerald Smith (pictured with wife Anita Webber Smith) is now a Texas biz hall of famer.

Photo courtesy of © Alexander's Fine Portrait Design

A local business powerhouse has been recognized for his years or work and success. Houston investment manager Gerald Smith, chairman and CEO of Smith Graham & Co., an investment management firm, can now call himself a Hall of Famer.

Recently, Smith was one of six Texas businessmen inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame. He and the five other inductees were honored during a dinner at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas.

More on this local tycoon from his Hall of Fame bio: He’s also a board member of New York Life Insurance and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and chairman of the Texas Southern University Foundation. A graduate of Texas Southern University with a BBA in Finance, in 2012, Mr. Smith received an honorary doctorate degree from his alma mater, where he has established the Gerald B. Smith Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation to help young people of color better compete in today’s business environment.

The sole person of color on this year's list, Smith has received numerous awards for his entrepreneurial achievements and community service. Recently, the City of Houston proclaimed Gerald B. Smith and Anita Webber Smith Day for their community and philanthropic giving. He and Anita, have three sons — Marcus, Jackson and Jordan, and one daughter — Joy.

Aside from Smith, this year’s inductees into the Texas Business Hall of Fame are:

Dallas billionaire Mark Cuban. He is owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks as well as chairman and CEO of AXS TV and one of the investors on ABC’s Shark Tank.
Austin billionaire John Paul DeJoria, who built his fortune through Paul Mitchell hair care products and high-end tequila. Forbesestimated John Paul Mitchell’s 2019 sales at roughly $900 million. In 1989, DeJoria co-founded Patrón, the first ultra-premium tequila. Patrón, now the world’s No. 1 ultra-premium tequila, was sold to Bacardi in 2018 for $5.1 billion.
Fort Worth private investor John Goff. He was co-founder, vice chairman, and CEO of Crescent Real Estate, which Morgan Stanley bought in 2007 for $6.5 billion. Two years later, he bought back the company in partnership with Barclays Capital. Today, Goff is chairman of Crescent Real Estate as well as Houston-based Contango Oil & Gas. He owns The Ritz-Carlton hotel in Dallas and Fort Worth-based spa company Canyon Ranch
Dallas private investor Morton Meyerson. Most notably, he is former chairman and CEO of Plano-based EDS and former chief technology officer at GM.
Dallas executive Randall Stephenson. He is former chairman and CEO of Dallas-based tech, media, and telecom giant AT&T.

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economic news

Texas slides down the list of best U.S. state economies for 2025

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After riding high among the top five best state economies in 2024, Texas' robust economy may be showing some cracks. Texas now ranks as the state with the eighth best economy, four spots lower than last year's ranking, according to a new WalletHub report.

WalletHub's experts ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia across 28 metrics to measure each state's economic activity and health and its "innovation potential."

Massachusetts moved up two spots from last year to claim the No. 1 best state economy title for 2025, followed by Utah (No. 2) and Washington (No. 3). Texas was surpassed by No. 4-ranking California, as well as New Hampshire (No. 5), North Carolina (No. 6), and Idaho (No. 7).

This is how Texas fared across the three major categories in the study:

No. 4 – Economic activity (down from No. 2)
No. 11 – Economic health (down from No. 7)
No. 24 – Innovation potential (unchanged)

Texas ranked No. 1 with the most exports per capita in a three-way tie with Louisiana and Kentucky, the report found.

The Lone Star State prides itself on its business-friendliness, and cities like Houston boast some of the most innovative companies in the nation. Texas also ranked 13th in WalletHub's separate study of the most and least innovative states for 2025.

WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo says the states that have the best economies are often those that invest in new businesses, technology, and more. The report also suggests low unemployment rates and high wages are among the many factors that can help Texas residents be successful while also boosting the state economy.

"A strong state economy doesn’t guarantee success for the state’s residents, but it certainly makes financial success more attainable," Lupo said.

The states with the worst economies in 2025, according to WalletHub, are Hawaii (No. 49), West Virginia (No. 50), and Iowa (No. 51).

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