Age, Biography and Wiki

Harold Simmons (Harold Clark Simmons) was born on 13 May, 1931 in Golden, Texas, is a Harold Clark Simmons was businessman, investor. Discover Harold Simmons's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is he in this year and how he spends money? Also learn how he earned most of networth at the age of 82 years old?

Popular As Harold Clark Simmons
Occupation Owner of Contran Corporation and Valhi, Inc.
Age 82 years old
Zodiac Sign Taurus
Born 13 May, 1931
Birthday 13 May
Birthplace Golden, Texas
Date of death 28 December, 2013
Died Place Dallas, Texas
Nationality United States

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 13 May. He is a member of famous businessman with the age 82 years old group.

Harold Simmons Height, Weight & Measurements

At 82 years old, Harold Simmons height not available right now. We will update Harold Simmons's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.

Physical Status
Height Not Available
Weight Not Available
Body Measurements Not Available
Eye Color Not Available
Hair Color Not Available

Who Is Harold Simmons's Wife?

His wife is Normagene Fairchild (divorced) Sandra Saliba (divorced) Annette Caldwell (widow)

Family
Parents Not Available
Wife Normagene Fairchild (divorced) Sandra Saliba (divorced) Annette Caldwell (widow)
Sibling Not Available
Children 6 Scheryle Patigian (with Fairchild) Lisa Simmons (with Fairchild) Andrea Swanson (with Saliba) Serena Connelly (with Saliba) and two step-daughters

Harold Simmons Net Worth

His net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is Harold Simmons worth at the age of 82 years old? Harold Simmons’s income source is mostly from being a successful businessman. He is from United States. We have estimated Harold Simmons's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2024 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2024 Under Review
Net Worth in 2023 Pending
Salary in 2023 Under Review
House Not Available
Cars Not Available
Source of Income businessman

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Timeline

1894

Simmons was born in Golden, Wood County, Texas, the son of Reuben Leon (1894–1954) and Fairess Clark Simmons (1903–1990).

His parents were Baptists and both worked as teachers.

His father later became a school superintendent.

1931

Harold Clark Simmons (May 13, 1931 – December 29, 2013) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist whose banking expertise helped him develop the acquisition concept known as the leveraged buyout (LBO) to acquire various corporations.

He was the owner of Contran Corporation and of Valhi, Inc., (a NYSE traded company about 90% controlled by Contran).

, he controlled five public companies traded on the New York Stock Exchange: NL Industries; Titanium Metals Corporation, the world's largest producer of titanium; Valhi, Inc., a multinational company with operations in the chemicals, component products, Waste Control Specialists (waste management), titanium metals industries; CompX International, manufacturer of ergonomic products, and Kronos Worldwide, leading producer and marketer of titanium dioxide.

1951

Simmons has BA (1951) and MA (1952) degrees in economics from the University of Texas at Austin.

Simmons holds a Phi Beta Kappa key.

1952

After completing graduate school in 1952, Simmons worked for the U.S. government as a bank examiner, then for a Dallas-based bank, Republic National Bank.

1960

In 1960, using $5,000 of his savings, and a $95,000 loan, he bought a small drugstore, University Pharmacy on Hillcrest Avenue, across from the campus of Southern Methodist University.

1961

Before Simmons owned it, University Pharmacy was the site of a racially charged sit-in in January 1961, when its owner C.K. Bright sprayed insecticide over and around 60 students, only two of whom were black seminary students.

1973

Simmons purchased the store and parlayed it into a chain of 100 stores, which in 1973 he sold for more than $50 million, to Eckerd Corporation.

This launched his career as an investor when he used the proceeds of that sale to begin speculation in the financial services industry.

1974

By 1974, he had been indicted for and acquitted of wire and mail fraud, and involved in a pension-related lawsuit brought against him by the United Auto Workers.

Simmons developed his "all debt and no equity" philosophy of capital management from having observed banks as a bank examiner, realizing that "Small banks in Texas were casual about getting the maximum use of their funds. . . banks were the most highly leveraged thing I saw. They borrowed most of their money and really didn't need much equity except for purposes of public confidence."

Understanding that banks could be bought entirely with borrowed money, Simmons theorized that he should "buy a bunch, because one bank could be used to finance another. All debt and no equity."

Simmons conducted a widely publicized but unsuccessful takeover attempt on the Lockheed Corporation, after having gradually acquired almost 20 per cent of its stock.

Lockheed was attractive to Simmons because one of its primary investors was the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), the pension fund of the state of California.

At the time, the New York Times said, "Much of Mr. Simmons's interest in Lockheed is believed to stem from its pension plan, which is over financed by more than $1.4 billion. Analysts said he might want to liquidate the plan and pay out the excess funds to shareholders, including himself."

Citing the "mismanagement" of its chairman, Daniel M. Tellep, Simmons stated a wish to replace its board with a slate of his own choosing, since he was the largest investor.

His board nominations included former Texas Senator John Tower, the onetime chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Admiral Elmo Zumwalt Jr., a former Chief of Naval Operations.

1989

Simmons had first begun accumulating Lockheed stock in early 1989 when deep Pentagon cuts to the defense budget had driven down prices of military contractor stocks, and analysts had not believed he would attempt the takeover since he was also at the time pursuing control of Georgia Gulf.

1993

In 1993, Simmons was fined $19,000 by the Federal Election Commission for exceeding the legal limit of campaign contributions in 1989 and 1990 elections.

Between 1993 and 1997, Simmons and family members and Contran gave more than $315,000 to Republican candidates, according to FEC records.

1997

In 1997, Simmons made a $5 million investment in T. Boone Pickens, Jr.'s first fund BP Capital Energy Commodity Fund; by 2005 this had grown to $150 million.

In August 1997, President Bill Clinton used a line-item veto to draw attention to the type of "special benefits" that investors such as Simmons employ to avoid paying capital gains taxes since the early 1980s.

Simmons had formed the "Snake River Sugar Cooperative" of 2,000 beet farmers and classified it as a joint-venture, shared ownership co-op, to purchase his Amalgamated Sugar Company, for $260 million.

At the time, Charles Schumer, serving as a representative from New York, wrote a letter to Clinton stating that the measure before him for consideration would benefit Simmons with a $104 million tax deferral.

Simmons stated at the time that his tax deferral was only $80 million.

During the Reagan presidency, Simmons was a contributor to GOPAC Simmons also contributed to the defense funds of Oliver North and John Poindexter, Reagan aides implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal.

2004

During the 2004 presidential campaign Simmons made a $4 million donation to the group Swift Vets and POWs for Truth.

2005

He also donated $100,000 to George W. Bush's January 2005 inaugural ball.

Simmons, a longtime Republican donor, gave the maximum $2,300 contributions to Senator John McCain, as well as to fellow Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani.

He was listed as a "bundler" for the McCain campaign on McCain's website, which meant that he had raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for the Republican candidate.

He also contributed to Representative Chet Edwards, a Texas Democrat.

Simmons has given more than $500,000 to Texas Governor Rick Perry, and more than $300,000 to Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst and Attorney General Greg Abbott.

He was a major donor to the American Issues Project, an independent conservative political group that ran ads critical of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

2010

Two of Harold Simmons' companies – Southwest Louisiana Land which he owns and Dixie Rice Agricultural Corp in which he was a major investor – were each $1 million donors to the American Crossroads, a 527 organization working to elect primarily Republican legislators during the 2010 midterm elections.

2012

In 2012, Simmons was fined by the Texas Ethics Commission for illegal campaign contributions to Texas state legislators in 2011.

Simmons had channeled his contributions (to fifteen Republicans and three Democrats) through a political action committee (PAC), but he was the PAC's sole donor.