J Bruce Bugg Jr

Bugg is chairman of Southwest Bancshares, parent company of the Bank of San Antonio. is a member of Texas Governor Abbott’s Strike Force to Open Texas, a group of business leaders who advise the governor on finding a balance between slowing the spread of COVID-19 and keeping businesses viable and workers working. Other members include Landry’s CEO Tilman Fertitta, Ross Perot Jr., International Bancshares Corp. Chairman and CEO Dennis Nixon and former Rackspace Chairman Graham Weston. Bugg is also an Abbott appointee to the Texas Transportation Commission, which he chairs. He was also founding chairman of the Bexar County Performing Arts Center Foundation and led the private-sector fundraising for what became the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. Bugg is a Missouri native and son of a casket manufacturer. A tax lawyer by training — he came to Texas to attend Southern Methodist University and graduated from its law school — Bugg is also toweringly ambitious and skilled at leveraging his connections. Southwest Bancshares, the holding company for Bank of San Antonio has announced plans to merge with the parent companies of Texas Hill Country Bank and Bank of Austin — all three chaired by Bugg.