Oscar Wyatt
| Oscar Wyatt | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Oscar Sherman Wyatt, Jr. July 11, 1924 Beaumont, Texas |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Texas A & M, 1949 degree in Mechanical Engineering |
| Occupation | businessman |
| Known for | Founder of Coastal Corporation |
| Net worth | over $100 million |
| Spouse(s) | Lynn Sakowitz Wyatt (m.1963–present) |
| Children | 4 sons |
| Website | |
| www.oscarswyatt.com/index.htm | |
| Notes | |
Oscar Sherman Wyatt, Jr. (born July 11, 1924) is an American businessman. He was the founder of Coastal Corporation. In 2007 he pled guilty in U.S. federal court in Manhattan to illegally sending payments to Iraq under the Oil for Food program.[2][3]
Early history
Wyatt was born in 1924 in Beaumont, Texas[4] and grew up in Navasota, Texas. He worked on farms and at a gas station before earning his pilot's license at age 16 to work as a crop duster. Wyatt later attended Texas A & M University but left in 1942 to enlist in the Army Air Corps. As a combat aviator, Wyatt was a decorated WWII pilot by age 21. After the war, he returned to Texas A & M and earned his degree in Mechanical Engineering.[5][6]
Early business history
Wyatt entered the refining industry in the early 1960s. And he began to attend Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meetings in Vienna, Austria. The U.S. refineries were optimized for high sulfur ("sour") crude oil, so Wyatt began to buy Iraqi oil in 1972.[7]
Later business history
Wyatt retired as Coastal's chairman in 1997 yet continued to serve as Executive Committee chairman until Coastal's sale to the El Paso Natural Gas Company in January 2001. In July 2001, Wyatt created a new company - the NuCoastal Corporation - to explore energy opportunities available across the globe. Today, Wyatt continues to consult with other petroleum related interests to help them improve their processes and procedures, and maximize their pipeline and refinery operations, resulting in better returns for common shareholders.[8]
Incarceration
In October 2007 Wyatt plead guilty to conspiring to, under the Oil for Food program, make illegal payments to Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Wyatt received a one year prison sentence, and was sentenced to serve in the minimum security camp at the Federal Correctional Complex, Beaumont, in Beaumont, Texas.[9]
Personal life
Wyatt has been married to socialite Lynn Wyatt since 1963 and has four children. Wyatt and his wife lived in the Houston neighborhood of River Oaks.
References
- ↑ Suro, Robert (October 8, 1991). "Family Quarrel Unfolds In a Houston Courtroom". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-09-09. "Lynn Sakowitz Wyatt, who is Mr. Sakowitz's only sibling, has combined down-home charm and haute couture to become an international socialite whose guest lists have included Mick Jagger, the Duchess of York and the Aga Khan. Her husband, Oscar S. Wyatt Jr., is a gruff oil executive who is chairman of the Coastal Corporation and has a fortune estimated at well over $100 million. Having done an extensive business with Iraq, he flew to Baghdad shortly before the outbreak of the Persian Gulf war, met with Saddam Hussein and brought home a planeload of hostages."
- ↑ Fowler, Tom (January 2, 2008). "Wyatt begins 1-year prison term". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
- ↑ Feuer, Alan (September 6, 2007). "Texas Tycoon, Prosecuted for Iraq Dealings, Says He’s a Target". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
- ↑ Who's who in the South and Southwest. Marquis Who's Who. 2003. ISBN 9780837908335. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
- ↑ "Oscar S. Wyatt, Jr. (biography)". Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ↑ Trotta, Daniel; Christine Kearney (September 5, 2007). "Texas oil tycoon Wyatt in legal fight of his life". Reuters. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
- ↑ Lynch, David J. "Prison term could cap oil trader's legendary career." USA Today. August 22, 2010. Retrieved on August 22, 2010.
- ↑ "Oscar S. Wyatt, Jr". Retrieved 2013-09-09.
- ↑ Swartz, Mimi (September 2001). "OIL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL: OSCAR WYATT AND MICHEL HALBOUTY SAY THE WILDCATTER’S WORLD IS GONE. SO WHY IS HOUSTON THRIVING?". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
Further reading
- "Feds execute search warrant on Pelican Refinery". KPLC-TV. undated. Retrieved 2009-09-09. "Pelican was bought for $9 million dollars by Texas oil baron Oscar Wyatt and another investor when the refinery was in bankruptcy in 2004. More recently Wyatt figured prominently in the "Oil-for-food" scandal involving American oilmen paying illegal kickbacks to the late Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq -- in order to participate in selling Iraqi oil.
Wyatt was on trial in New York, but in October decided to plead guilty to wire fraud. He is to be sentenced November 27th. The plea deal reportedly calls for Wyatt to spend no more than two years behind bars and forfeit $11 million dollars.
Federal officials in Washington D.C. confirm only that search warrant was executed at the local refinery; they won't say whether this search is connected to Wyatt's Oil-for-food troubles or whether it stems from some unrelated environmental issues at the refinery near Lake Charles"
- IVANOVICH, DAVID; FOWLER, TOM (November 9, 2007). "Federal agents search refinery linked to Wyatt, Chalmers. Warrant served at Louisiana unit". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-09-09.