Thomas Ollis Hicks Sr. (born February 7, 1946), is an American private equity investor and sports team owner living in Dallas, Texas.

[10] But Hicks Muse hit a rough patch by the early 2000s, when investors in Equity Fund IV were burned by a $1.2 billion plunge into telecom investments in 1999.

He created Hicks Holdings, a vehicle for his sports and real estate empire, and then started buying companies again in the $10 to $250 million level, including:[11] a Chinese electronics firm, a venture with DirecTV selling bundled TV-telecom services to condos, a landscaping materials company in the Midwest, a pet food firm in Argentina, and Gammaloy – an oil field rental outfit he bought from his wife's family, paying approximately $20 million in the 1990s.

Hicks was a member of the political action committee for the 2008 presidential election campaign for former Republican Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani.

Each neighbor’s property shared a boundary between Daria Place and Holloway Road, within a gated community of Preston Hollow, Dallas, Texas respectively.

[17] Hicks moved from the business pages to the sports section in December 1995 when he bought the National Hockey League Dallas Stars for $82 million.

In April 2010, Hicks' company defaulted on $525 million in bank loans backed by the Stars and a 50% interest in the American Airlines Center.

[20] On November 22, 2011, a bankruptcy court judge approved a bid by Vancouver businessman and Kamloops Blazers owner Tom Gaglardi to buy the team for $240 million.

Under Hicks' ownership, the Rangers won the American League West Division crown in 1998 and 1999, but failed to deliver a World Series.

The Park signing would be a disaster for the Rangers as the new "staff ace" was unable to adjust to the move from pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium to the hitter-friendly American League.

[26] Prior to bids being placed by potential buyers, Hicks told the media the Rangers were operating under normal business with no interference from MLB.

"[27] After his group had completed the purchase agreement, Ryan told the media the Rangers were unable to offer the first round pick the $6 million signing bonus both parties had verbally agreed upon after the draft because MLB, who were strictly overseeing the Rangers budget by this time, would not approve the amount needed to sign Purke.

[28] Hicks has been sued by three different parties over the land adjacent to the stadium that was sold in a separate transaction as a part of the purchase by Greenberg and Ryan.

[31] Ironically, Alex Rodriguez was the largest unsecured creditor, owed nearly $25 million in deferred payments despite being traded six years earlier.

[37] On February 6, 2007, Hicks and Gillett's joint offer for Liverpool was formally accepted, valuing the club at £218.9 million ($432.9M) (£5,000 per share and £44.8M in debt).

[48][49] During Hicks and Gillett's period of ownership, Liverpool became associated with frequent boardroom wranglings as the owners fell out with each other[50] and engaged in public battles with Parry and Benítez.

[58] Hicks claimed that he believed the club had tripled in value during his tenure,[59] and boasted that he would be looking for a price of four times what he purchased his stake for.

"[61] On June 16, 2010, Liverpool Walton MP Steve Rotheram tabled a motion in the House of Commons expressing dismay at the continuing ownership of the club.

[62] In October 2010, as part of a fans' campaign against the ownership, a video entitled Dear Mr Hicks was released virally via YouTube.

Produced and directed by Mike Jefferies, it featured celebrity fans of the club giving their reasons why they wanted to see a change of ownership.

[63][64][65][66] The Independent newspaper praised the video, saying, "True to the city's capacity to create something out of adversity, a wonderfully inventive viral film, Dear Mr Hicks, has been published online to make it clear where he ought to go.

£1 billion suit against NESV and Kop Holdings for damages, claiming that, "This outcome... devalues the club..." and suggesting that he had been the victim of an "epic swindle".

[73] In the end, none of the offers made were anywhere close to Hicks and Gillett's valuation and with the threat of administration looming the club was sold for £300 million.

[76][77][78][79][80][81] Steve Horner, from the fans' group Kop Faithful, declared, "It’s like a huge cloud has been lifted off us... Hicks and Gillett leave with no legacy, apart from one of chaos.

All they were ever interested in was making money – not in owning what is for me the greatest football club in the world, investing in it properly and taking good care of it.

"[84] In the two years before Hicks and Gillett took control of the club, Liverpool won the UEFA Champions League in 2005 and the FA Cup in 2006 under manager Rafael Benítez.

[49] During Hicks and Gillett's period of ownership, the club struggled to meet the interest payments on the loans taken out as part of the leveraged buy-out.

[91] On January 11, 2013, Hicks and Gillett finally decided to drop their case in the English law courts against Sir Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre, the three directors on the club's board of directors at the time of the sale of the club to NESV; they also agreed to drop their case against NESV and RBS Bank.

Hicks was also the 1996 co-chair of the Dallas Jewish Coalition for the Homeless "Vogel Alcove" project, and received the 2000 Henry Cohn Humanitarian Award from the Anti-Defamation League.