Thomas O. Hicks is founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hicks Holdings LLC, a Dallas-based family office that owns and manages the Thomas and Cinda Hicks Family’s sports, real estate, corporate assets, and investments. Previously, Mr. Hicks co-founded, and was Chairman from 1989 through 2004 of Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, Inc., a nationally prominent private equity firm specializing in leveraged acquisitions. During Mr. Hicks’s tenure as Chairman, HMTF successfully raised over $12 billion of private equity funds, consummated over $50 billion of leveraged acquisitions, and was one of the world’s most active private investment firms. From 1984 to 1989, Mr. Hicks was Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Hicks & Haas, a Dallas-based private equity firm. The successful acquisitions of HMTF and Hicks & Haas included AMFM Inc., A&W Brands, Inc., Berg Electronics, Inc., Dr Pepper/Seven Up Companies, International Home Foods, Life Partners Group, Pinnacle Foods, Sybron International, and Yell Group plc, among others.
Hicks Holdings’ sports ownership assets include Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers Baseball Club, the Dallas Stars Hockey Club, of the National Hockey League, a 50% interest in the American Airlines Center, and a 50% interest in Liverpool Football Club, an English Premiership League team known as “Britain’s Most Successful Football Club.”
Hicks Holdings is a partner with Hillwood Development Company in the Victory Park project in downtown Dallas; a co-developer of Glorypark, a 75-acre urban town center /multi-use development adjacent to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington; and Champions Park, a 40 acre office/retail development in Frisco, Texas, adjacent to the Dr Pepper Ballpark and Dr Pepper StarsCenter. Hicks Holdings is a venture partner in several hotel/residential projects currently under development, including the “W” Hotel and Residences at Hollywood and Vine in Los Angeles. Through Hicks Trans American Partners, Hicks Holdings also selectively makes corporate and real estate investments in South America. Through Hicks Cedar Park, the Austin, Texas suburb, Cedar Park will be home to the Texas Stars, Dallas’ American Hockey League development affiliate, starting in 2009-10. The development includes a 6,700-seat Cedar Park Event Center and has a retail site of 17 acres adjacent to the facility grounds for mixed-use development, all being developed by Hicks Cedar Park.
Hicks Holdings’ majority-owned corporate holdings include DirecPath, a company formed to provide bundled DIRECTV programming, broadband voice and data services, security and other locally based services to multiple dwelling unit residences (MDUs) across the United States; Latrobe Specialty Steel, a leading manufacturer and distributor of specialty steel to the aerospace industry; Ocular LCD, Inc., a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of high-performance liquid crystal displays, modules and systems; and Grupo Pilar, a leading animal and pet food company in Argentina. In 2007, Hicks Holdings also acquired a 40 percent stake in Anvita Health, an emerging leader in clinical decision support systems.
Mr. Hicks serves as Chairman of Hicks Acquisition Company 1, a $552 million Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) listed on the American Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol TOH. Hicks Acquisition Company 1 has recently entered into an agreement and partnership to acquire Graham Packaging Holdings Co., a global technology and innovation leader in value-added blow-molded rigid plastic containers for the branded food and beverage household, personal care/specialty and automotive lubricant industries.
Mr. Hicks purchased the Dallas Stars in February 1996 and is the team’s Chairman of the Board and serves as Vice Chairman on the NHL Board of Governors. He also serves on the NHL Executive Committee and the NHL Audit and Finance Committee. The Stars were the 1999 Stanley Cup Champions, were Stanley Cup finalists in 2000, won the NHL’s Presidents’ Trophy for the best regular season record in both 1997-98 and 1998-99, and have captured seven division titles under Mr. Hicks’ ownership.
Thomas O. Hicks has recently finished his ninth season as Chairman of the Board and owner of the Texas Rangers and serves as the team’s representative on the MLB Board of Governors. During his ownership, the club has captured two American League West Division titles, winning a franchise record 95 games in 1999. Mr. Hicks is on the board of directors of Major League Baseball Advanced Media, the Internet-based subsidiary of Major League Baseball.
Mr. Hicks serves on the boards of directors of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association, Crow Family Holdings, as well as The Center for Strategic and International Studies Board of Trustees, the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business Dean’s Board of Advisors, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Foundation Board of Trustees, and the University of Texas Chancellor’s Council. A former member of the University of Texas System Board of Regents, Mr. Hicks served as Chairman of the University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO), which manages the $20 billion University of Texas Permanent University Fund and Long Term Funds.
Mr. Hicks graduated with an MBA from the University of Southern California in 1970 and a BBA from the University of Texas in 1968. He is also a recent recipient of the University of Texas Distinguished Alumnus Award, and annually serves as a Distinguished Guest Lecturer at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
With strong ties to the community, Mr. Hicks has provided continuing support to numerous local organizations, and has also held various charity board memberships. Mr. Hicks was the 1996 co-chair of the Dallas Jewish Coalition for the Homeless "Vogel Alcove" project, and was honored as the recipient of the 2000 Henry Cohn Humanitarian Award for the Anti-Defamation League. He is also a past recipient of the Father of the Year Award. The father of six children, Mr. Hicks resides with his wife Cinda in Dallas.