Lee Bass

Father, Perry (d. 2006), inherited family fortune created by oil baron uncle Sid Richardson 1959. Passed on to eldest son, Sid, 1968; brother Robert split same year. Bass Enterprises Production still among biggest private oil companies; sold one division to Southern Union for $1.6 billion 2005. Lee invests with Sid; billions of dollars in Cayman Islands investment accounts. The youngest of the four Bass brothers, Lee Bass is believed to hold the reins of the family oil and gas companies which have been drilling in west Texas and eastern New Mexico for decades. The Bass oil fortune was originally inherited from oil tycoon uncle Sid Richardson. A devoted outdoorsman, Lee has been instrumental in protecting rhinoceroses worldwide, and is responsible for bringing critically endangered black rhinos and white rhinos to the Fort Worth Zoo. Lee spent 12 years as commissioner of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. His El Coyote ranch in south Texas is home to an elite herd of Texas longhorn cattle. In 1991 Lee donated $20 million to alma mater Yale for a new program in Western Civilization. After outcry against Lee's insistence that he get to approve the program's professors, Yale canceled the program and returned the donation. The Lee & Ramona Bass Foundation is endowed with more than $50 million. Bachelor of Arts / Science, Yale University; Master of Business Administration, Wharton School