Harold Clark Simmons (May 13, 1931 – December 29, 2013) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist whose banking expertise helped him develop the acquisition concept known as the leveraged buyout (LBO) to acquire various corporations.
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.
"[12] Simmons conducted a widely publicized but unsuccessful takeover attempt on the Lockheed Corporation, after having gradually acquired almost 20 per cent of its stock.
Citing the "mismanagement" of its chairman, Daniel M. Tellep, Simmons stated a wish to replace its board with a slate of his own choosing, since he was the largest investor.
His board nominations included former Texas Senator John Tower, the onetime chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Admiral Elmo Zumwalt Jr., a former Chief of Naval Operations.
[16] In August 1997, President Bill Clinton used a line-item veto to draw attention to the type of "special benefits" that investors such as Simmons employ to avoid paying capital gains taxes since the early 1980s.
At the time, Charles Schumer, serving as a representative from New York, wrote a letter to Clinton stating that the measure before him for consideration would benefit Simmons with a $104 million tax deferral.
[18] During the 2004 presidential campaign Simmons made a $4 million donation to the group Swift Vets and POWs for Truth.
[22] He was a major donor to the American Issues Project, an independent conservative political group that ran ads critical of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
[25] Simmons's company, Contran Corporation, donated $1 million to Make Us Great Again, a super PAC supporting Rick Perry's 2012 presidential candidacy.
[26] According to a CBS article, Contran also was the largest donor to American Crossroads, giving $2 million to the conservative super PAC co-founded by Karl Rove.
[31] His contributions in support of Romney totaled $16.5 million, making him the year's third-largest Republican donor, behind Sheldon Adelson and Bob J.
[25] As of March, Simmons and Contran Corp. had given almost $18 million to conservative super PACs,[32] the election's second single contributor after Sheldon Adelson, spread among all the major Republican candidates following the advice of Rove.
"[33] NL Industries, originally named National Lead Industries, Inc. has been involved in numerous lawsuits brought by the U.S. Department of Justice to force the company to pay funds into the Superfund to clean up contaminated sites at various sites around the country such as Granite City, Illinois,[34] and Depew, New York.
[38] Simmons donated money to help fund the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment at the University of Texas.
Senator Zell Miller to tour college campuses during the 2006–2007 school year to promote "his message in defense of America from foreign and domestic threats to our freedom.
[44] Annette and Harold Simmons have been underwriters for 28 consecutive years to the Dallas Crystal Charity Ball Fashion Show and Luncheon.