Harold Clark Simmons
| Harold Simmons | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Harold Clark Simmons May 13, 1931 Golden, Texas |
| Died | December 28, 2013 (aged 82) Dallas, Texas |
| Nationality | United States |
| Alma mater | B.A and M.A.University of Texas at Austin |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Net worth |
 US$ 10.0 billion (Sept 2013) |
| Spouse(s) | First wife (divorced) Sandra Saliba (divorced) Annette Caldwell (widow) |
| Children | 6 Scheryle Patigian (with first wife) Lisa Simmons (with first wife) Andrea Swanson (with Saliba) Serena Connelly (with Saliba) and two step-daughters |
Harold Clark Simmons (May 13, 1931 – December 29, 2013) was an American businessman and billionaire 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). As of 2006, he controlled 5 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.
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. Simmons has BA (1951) and MA (1952) degrees in economics from the University of Texas at Austin. Simmons holds a Phi Beta Kappa key.
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.
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. 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. 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. 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.
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