Ray Lee Hunt

Ray Lee Hunt (1943-) inherited most of father's H.L. Hunt Hunt Oil Co. along with his three sisters. In 1982, Forbes magazine estimated Ray Hunt's family's total net worth to be $200 million. Ray made a huge oil find in Yemen in 1984. It took two years for Hunt, partnering with other companies, to lay a pipeline and build a refinery for the oil. In 2006 Forbes estimated that Ray’s family's net worth increased from $200 million to $4 billion. He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX and serves on its Board of Trustees. Former owner of Southwest Media Corporation of Texas which "D Magazine" of Dallas, Houston City Magazine, "Texas Homes" and "Sport Magazine".

He is a major backer of U.S. President George W. Bush and a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. [cite web
url=http://www.slate.com/id/2194811/
title=Today's Papers: "You Have Been Liberated"
first=Daniel
last=Politi
publisher=Slate
date=2008-07-03]

In October 2007, Ray struck an oil deal with the Kurdish in the northern region of Dahuk near the Turkish border in Iraq. The Iraqi Oil minister has denounced the deal as illegal, though there is no specific law against it, claiming it undermines the country's negotiations to share profit between the Kurds, Sunni and Shiites. The Kurds refuse to share details about the deal but insist that they will share profits. Likewise, Hunt Oil has refused to answer questions about the deal from US government officials who called for details when the deal became public. A U.S. Congressional committee concluded that George W. Bush administration officials knew that Hunt oil was planning to sign the oil deal with the regional Kurdistan government that ran counter to American policy and undercut Iraq’s central government, but in e-mails appeared to welcome the deal. [cite web
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/world/middleeast/03kurdistan.html
title=Committee Questions State Dept. Role in Iraq Oil Deal
first=James
last=Glanz
coauthors=Richard A. Oppel
publisher=The New York Times
date=2007-07-03]

ee also

*List of billionaires

References

External links

* [http://www.forbes.com/finance/lists/10/2004/LIR.jhtml?passListId=10&passYear=2004&passListType=Person&uniqueId=FVT9&datatype=Person Forbes.com: Forbes World's Richest People]
* [http://realp.blogspot.com/2007/09/hunts-horrible-oil-agreement.html Ray Hunt's Oil Agreement (with kurds)]