Business
March 1, 1987
C. W. Post
At first he couldn’t stand the strain of trying to get rich. Then he couldn’t stand the strain of being rich.
Business
Reporting and commentary on Texas businesses and the trends and innovation happening in our state
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1151-1200 of 1298 Articles
Energy
February 1, 1987
Undertakers of the Oil Patch
The death of an oil well keeps an oil-field service company alive.
Business
February 1, 1987
ONE Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Will deprivation, humiliation, and confrontation lead the way to a better, more confident you? A new self-help craze sweeping Texas wants you to think so.
Border & Immigration
February 1, 1987
The Last of the Border Lords
In his dream to create a dynastic empire along the Rio Grande, Chito Longoria went against the wishes of his family and the values of his native land.
Food
January 1, 1987
Between a Hard Rock and a Place
The world’s hottest restaurant chain turns into Texas’ hottest restaurant feud.
Business
December 1, 1986
The Last Resort
Texans are always looking for a new frontier, a place where business people can do business without worrying about a lot of bureaucrats. Want to make it in Texas today? Come to Belize.
Business
December 1, 1986
Making It in the Bust
At a time when Texas seems to have lost its gift for creating fortunes, there has emerged a group of entrepreneurs who are making money by catering to the needs of people who are going broke.
Business
December 1, 1986
Famous Fixers
They have done it all: saved New York City and Massachusetts, written economic classics, created new companies, and turned old ones around. Now, at our request, they’re fixing Texas.
Business
December 1, 1986
Against the Grain
One school of thought holds that when the economy is in a nosedive, that’s the time to go into business. At least that’s what a farmer, an oilman, a developer, and a banker believe.
Business
December 1, 1986
Advice From the Experts
We gave a bunch of smart Texans $50,000. (Okay, we didn’t really, we just said we did.) The money comes with these strings attached: it has to be invested in Texas now, and the investments have to pay off by 1996.
Business
November 1, 1986
Why Inman Left
The departure of MCC’s chief signals a new beginning for the company—and an end to Austin’s high-tech boom.
Business
October 1, 1986
Going for Broke
In boom times, John Connally and Ben Barnes used their political magic to build a sprawling real estate empire. Now they’re in a desperate struggle to keep themselves afloat.
Business
August 31, 1986
I Think I’m Rich, Therefore I Am
A new class of self-styled experts called prosperity consultants say they have the solution to Texas’ economic bust: the bad times are all in our heads.
Business
August 1, 1986
Free Enterprise U.
Let’s hear it for Dallas’ Northwood Institute, where entrepreneurialism is second only to high society fundraising.
Business
July 1, 1986
Mining the Moon, Selling the Stars
Their business may read like a sci-fi script, but these aging astronauts, former Nasa engineers, technocrats, and high-risk junkies are serious about selling space.
Music
June 30, 1986
The Denton Dilemma
North Texas bands face a tough choice: living to make music or making music for a living.
Energy
April 30, 1986
The Oil Revolution
So long, OPEC. So long, $27 oil. The Merc is king now.
Business
March 1, 1986
A Trust Corrupted, a City Betrayed, Part Two
The continuing saga of the Hermann estate scandal was a shocking lesson in how Houston’s most-respected philanthropists, civic leaders, and biggest deal makers had abused their power.
Business
March 1, 1986
Doin’ the Social Climb
From the heights of the Dallas social heap, they leaped to the national celebrity circuit. Rich, young, and fashionable, Twinkle and Bradley Bayoud are a case study in how to rise to the top.
Business
February 1, 1986
A Trust Corrupted, a City Betrayed, Part One
The Hermann estate scandal exposed Houston’s most powerful deal makers, most respected philanthropist, and leading lawvers to the harsh glare of publicity. It was a shocking lesson in the abuses of power.
Business
December 1, 1985
The Fraying Empire of Bobby Sakowitz
Robert Sakowitz set out to be a retail Renaissance man. Like his hero Leonardo da Vinci, he was going to do everything. And he did—including something he never imagined: fail.
Business
November 1, 1985
Texas Primer: The Petroleum Club
People who have watched a certain prime-time soap opera think they know what goes on at the Petroleum Club. They don’t.
Business
October 1, 1985
The Chips Are Down
The real Texas technology picture is much more intricate than either the mad hype of two years ago or the dire headlines of today make it out to be.
Business
August 1, 1985
Operator, Give Me Information
It seems practically impossible to choose the best deal from the multitude of services offered by all the new long distance phone companies. But we’ve got their number.
Business
July 31, 1985
The Pink People
A new recruit to the ranks of Mary Kay beauty consultants struggles valiantly to do his part in reaching the woman of the eighties and keeping the company in the pink.
Business
April 1, 1985
Why Boone Can’t Lose
An old hand at Pickens-watching reveals the key to the Amarillo oilman’s corporate-takeover antics.
Texas History
February 1, 1985
The Big Country
The great Texas ranches and how they got that way.
Business
February 1, 1985
The Last Roundup
“When the cowboys on the 06 ranch talked about losing a way of life, they often pointed to their neighbor, Clayton Williams, as an example of what they meant. He was a millionaire and an oilman, and he represented everything they hated.”
Business
February 1, 1985
When Grandma Talks…
Rich old ladies who hoard their securities set the best example for managing your stocks.
Business
November 1, 1984
Trashy Business
When Houston’s rich and powerful join forces with environmentalists to battle big corporations, they can be fighting over only one thing. Garbage.
Energy
October 1, 1984
Feasting on the Oil Glut
So you think that OPEC controls the price of oil and that the glut is hurting everybody in the oil business? Wrong. Traders on the international spot market are pulling the strings and getting rich in the process.
Business
September 1, 1984
The Night Crew
There are a hundred of them, and their job is invisibility. They come into giant office buildings after everyone has gone home and, if they do the job right, make the evidence of the day’s work disappear.
Business
August 31, 1984
How Do You Spell Real Estate?
Roger Staubach finds happiness by swapping Rolaids for real estate.
Politics & Policy
June 30, 1984
The Man in the Black Hat, Part Two
With the help of a friendly banker and some friendlier politicians, Clinton Manges conquered might Mobil Oil and saved his empire. But not for long—it’s in jeopardy again.
Politics & Policy
May 31, 1984
The Man in the Black Hat, Part One
Clinton Manges built his empire on brushland and oil wells, political contributions and lawsuits. His influence extends to the state capitol and oil company boardrooms. To get where he is, he studied under three masters of South Texas.
Business
May 1, 1984
Lenôtre: Shameless Pastries, Mythical Chocolates, Shocking Sorbets
Bearing Gallic sophistication and outrageously delicious desserts, the Lenôtre family has taken Dallas and Houston by storm.
Business
May 1, 1984
High Noon at the Circle C
Gary Bradley, a hot young land speculator in Austin, was in the middle of a $50 million deal when he ran into an outraged environmental movement and a lobbyist with some powerful clients. The fight was on.
Business
April 30, 1984
Honk If You Love Elephants
With the Republican convention only three months away, Dallas’ sales forces are frantically gearing up for a merchandising bonanza.
Business
April 1, 1984
Look, Ma, My Computer Did It!
See the future on your computer: software on stocks, football, and astrology.
Business
April 1, 1984
Birth of a New Frontier
Hundreds of new computer companies have made Texas the likely successor to California’s Silicon Valley, and it all started with two firms in Dallas.
Business
March 1, 1984
“I Beat Ben Barnes and John Connally in a Fair Fight”
When Bames-Connally Investments announced plans to build apartments in a South Austin neighborhood, the residents banded together to try to stop them. They won the battle but lost the war.
Business
November 1, 1983
Twofers
They are the quirky enterprises that offer two things under one roof—like shrimp and guns, steaks and loans, or eggrolls and gasoline.
Politics & Policy
October 1, 1983
Mayor of the Unfinished City
To become more than a perpetual boom town, Dallas needs a foresighted leader and astute politician. Is Starke Taylor the man?
Business
October 1, 1983
Taking Over
It’s a bank-eat-bank world out there.
Business
September 30, 1983
Wal-Marts Across Texas
An Arkansas chain has refused to discount small-town buying power. Now it’s ousting local mom-and-pop operations throughout Texas and even giving K Mart a run for its money.
True Crime
August 31, 1983
The Big Con
From his early days in Big Spring, Eugene Anderson wasn’t what he seemed; neither was the mysterious element he later claimed turned water into fuel.
Business
August 1, 1983
Hi! I’m Jimmy Dean and I’d Like You to Try My Pure Pork Sausage
The meat products business is no bed of top hogs.
Business
July 31, 1983
Anyplace But Texas
Texans may secretly yearn to live east of the Mississippi or across the Atlantic, but the next best thing is a subdivision named Yorktown, Nottingham County, or village Green West.
Energy
June 30, 1983
The Journeyman
Ed Jones rode the oil boom to a white-collar job. It was a short trip.
Energy
June 30, 1983
And Yet the Dream Endures
Don’t give up! There’s still money to be made finding oil. Up in Graham the Creswells are striking it rich with the help of Jesus and, er, creekology.