Stephen Bechtel Jr.

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Stephen Davison Bechtel Jr. (born May 10, 1925) is an American billionaire, civil engineer, and co-owner of the Bechtel Corporation with his son Riley.

He is the son of Stephen Davison Bechtel Sr. and grandson of Warren A. Bechtel, who founded the Bechtel Corporation.

Early life

Bechtel was born in Oakland, California, on May 10, 1925. He was the son of Laura A. Peart and Stephen Bechtel Sr., and Warren A. Bechtel, the father of American civil engineering company Bechtel Corporation. During his time in high school, he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve and went to the University of Colorado to study engineering. He graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi, and married Elizabeth "Betty" Mead Hogan, a Berkeley alumna. In 1948, he received his Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Personal life

Bechtel and his partner, Betty, had two sons and three daughters. Riley Bechtel's uncle took over as the chairman and chief executive of the Bechtel Corporation. He had started the trek to the Everest base camp and had also hiked the John Muir Trail over a 211 mile course.

Bechtel died in San Francisco, California, on March 15, 2021. He was 95 years old at the time.

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Career

Bechtel's family business was established in 1948. Although he initially wanted to get into home, his father was persuaded by Bechtel Corporation's global initiatives during a three-week trip. He succeeded Stephen Bechtel Sr. as president of Bechtel Corporation in 1960 and chairman in 1969, succeeding his father, Stephen Bechtel Sr. He worked with the company for 30 years before his retirement in 1990. During his time, the company, which was earlier known for its efforts on the Hoover Dam and the Bay Area Rapid Transit, widened its international presence by collaborating on the Channel Tunnel connecting France and the United Kingdom, King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, as well as Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia, expanded its global reach. The last is regarded as one of the most significant civil engineering projects of the time. The company was involved in the construction of oil platforms in the North Sea, liquefied natural gas plants in Algeria, Indonesia, and the UAE, as well as the cleaning of the nuclear reactor site Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.

In the 1990s, the company's involvement in Boston's infrastructure projects, nicknamed Big Digging, came into question, with the company having to pay to resolve litigation over a ceiling collapse and leaky tunnels. The company had been accused by the US Justice Department in 1976 of illegally complying with the Arab League boycott of Israel, and it had also been accused of implementing changes in Saddam Hussein's Iraq of the 1980s. During his reign, the 1980s oil shortage and the subsequent decline in crude prices resulted in reduced investment by the middle-eastern countries on infrastructure projects, including petroleum pipelines, which had a dramatic effect on the company's earnings. The company under Bechtel's leadership took part in certain of the infrastructure projects in lieu of retrenchments of approximately half of its 44,000 employees.

The company's revenues increased by elevenfold in the first three decades, and the corporation also voted from a majority ownership model that retained majority control by managers outside of the family. Forbes estimated that he owned 20% of the company's shares and net worth in 2021, predicting that it would be $2.9 billion. Fremont Group, which was also an early investor in Starbucks Corporation, was established following his departure from Bechtel Corporation. He had also served as director of GM and International Business Machines.

Bechtel was appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson to the President's Committee on Urban Housing. Richard Nixon appointed him to serve on the National Pollution Control Council, the National Commission on Productivity, the Labor Management Advisory Committee, and the National Commission for Industrial Peace. Gerald Ford asked Bechtel to serve on the President's Labor-Management Committee.

Bechtel was recognized by the Boy Scouts of America with both the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and the Silver Buffalo Award. Kenneth K. Bechtel, Stephen's uncle, was awarded the Silver Buffalo in 1950 and served as the national president of the Boy Scouts of America from 1956 to 1959.

In 2009, the BSA purchased a new high adventure base near Beckley, West Virginia. Bechtel invested $50 million on the new base, which has been designated as the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve.

Bechtel was involved in several environmental causes. In 1957, he founded a foundation to help these people. The foundation funded a National Scout Reserve in southern West Virginia, which is now the home of the national boy scout jamboree. The foundation invested $25 million to renovate San Francisco's Presidio. Many non-profit organizations, especially in the San Francisco Bay area, are supported by the S. D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation and the Stephen Bechtel Fund. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, Stephen and Betty's wealths to Berkeley include awards for College Scientists, the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Ballet, the Head Royce School, the Royal Horticultural Society, the Nature Conservancy, the Huntington Library, and the Royal Horticultural Society.

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