He founded and was the chief executive officer of Murray Energy, a mining corporation based in St. Clairsville, Ohio, until it filed for bankruptcy.

[1] Murray was criticized for his denial of climate change,[2] his actions following the Crandall Canyon Mine collapse, and for several large strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) he initiated.

[5] He received a Bachelor of Engineering in Mining from Ohio State University, and attended a six-week management program at Harvard Business School.

[10] Murray told the White House in a letter dated August 4, 2017, that without an emergency order under the Federal Power Act to restart coal-fired electrical generating plants, his company and a major customer, power plant operator FirstEnergy Solutions, would declare bankruptcy.

[20] Richard E. Stickler, the government's top mine safety official, said: "It was not—and I repeat, it was not—a natural occurring earthquake.

"[22] An analysis by seismologists at the University of California, Berkeley found that the seismic event was "consistent with an underground collapse".

[29] The Ohio Valley Coal PAC, another group affiliated with Murray Energy, donated $10,000 for George W. Bush's 2000 Presidential campaign.

Several miners contacted a nearby morning talk radio host, David Blomquist, to complain that they were forced to attend the rally without pay.

Murray and his corporation were a major donor to Romney and other Republicans, and employees reported frequent instances of political pressure from management.

[31] In October 2012, the non-profit group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Murray and his company alleging violations of federal campaign law in which employees of Murray Energy were required to give one percent of their salary to the company's political action committee.

[32] On November 9, 2012, three days following the presidential election, Murray laid off 156 workers, citing a supposed "war on coal" by the Obama administration as the reason for his decision.

In June 2007, Murray told the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works that "the science of global warming is suspect."

[41] For example, Robert Murray and Murray Energy filed lawsuits against environment reporter Ken Ward Jr. from The Charleston Gazette, philosopher and contributor to The Huffington Post Michael Stark, reporter Margaret Newkirk from the Akron Beacon Journal and the Chagrin Valley Times; he also threatened to sue Steve Fiscor, editor of Coal Age and Engineering & Mining Journal, and R. Larry Grayson, a writer and professor emeritus of energy and mineral engineering at Pennsylvania State University.

[45] The show went ahead with the episode (June 18),[46] in which host John Oliver discussed the Crandall Canyon Mine collapse and expressed the opinion that Murray did not do enough to protect his miners' safety.

[47] The lawsuit alleged that, in the Last Week Tonight episode, Oliver "incited viewers to do harm to Mr. Murray and his companies.

"[48][49] The ACLU filed an amicus brief that described "the ridiculous case at hand" as a transparent attempt to use the court system to punish legal speech,[50] and gained notoriety for its snarky tone.

[53] After Murray dropped an appeal, John Oliver discussed the implications of the lawsuit in his show's November 10, 2019 episode, "SLAPP Suits.

The 2017 episode had featured a cast member in a squirrel costume with a novelty check bearing these words, in reference to a 2015 incident where, in response to a bonus program implemented at one of Murray's mines which union members feared would undermine safety, a miner voided his $3.22 bonus check, wrote "Eat Shit Bob" on the back of it, and returned it to management.

[50] The circuit court judge in the case had noted that the Supreme Court has long upheld "'loose, figurative' language that cannot reasonably be understood to convey facts" as protected speech;[42][58] accordingly, the number leveled a series of intentionally outlandish and obviously false accusations at Murray, including those of murdering Archduke Ferdinand and starting World War I, filling a rocket with puppies and sending it into space, having sexual relations with squirrels per a barbershop quartet, and being the Zodiac Killer.

[16][62] Murray stated that he suffered from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis,[63] a scarring of the lung tissue leading to shortness of breath.

[68] The 28,000-square-foot center is planned to house a gymnasium, kitchen, and classrooms for use by the school, local church, and wider community.