Chairman

Fred Hofheinz

Chairman of the Board of Directors

Mr. Hofheinz, the former Mayor of the City of Houston 1974-1978, began his business career with his late father, Roy Hofheinz, Sr., the founder of the Houston Astrodome and the initial owner of the Houston Astros baseball team. Mr. Hofheinz played a key role in the family real estate development projects surrounding the Astrodome, including an amusement park and four hotels. He was the senior officer of Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, which was owned by the Hofheinz family. In 1971, Mr. Hofheinz co-founded a closed circuit television company, Top Rank, which is now the leading professional boxing promotion firm in the nation. He has served as President of the Texas Municipal League and served on the boards of numerous other state and national organizations for municipal government elected officials. In addition to his law practice, Mr. Hofheinz also owned several direct interests in oil and gas producing properties and co-founded and served as the Chief Executive Officer of several oil and gas companies. He has also dealt extensively with business interests, primarily oil and gas related, in the People’s Republic of China and in the Ukraine.

For the past five years Mr. Hofheinz has been an investor and a practicing attorney with the firm of Williams, Birnberg & Andersen in Houston, Texas. While he has numerous investments in real estate, his principal investment interest is in oil and gas. He has been actively engaged in successful exploration and production ventures, both domestic and international. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Texas and takes an active interest in Houston’s civic and charitable affairs. He was admitted to the Texas bar in 1964, having received his preparatory education at the University of Texas, (B.A., M.A., Ph.D., 1960-1964); and his Legal education.