Don Blankenship

Don Blankenship

Donald Leon "Don" Blankenship (born March 14, 1950) was Chairman and CEO of Massey Energy Co., the sixth largest coal company (by 2008 production) in the United States.[1] He served in those roles from November 30, 2000, until December 31, 2010.[2]

Blankenship is an active financial backer of the Republican party and participant in local and state politics, especially in his home state of West Virginia. He has frequently spoken out publicly about politics, the environment, unions, and coal production.

He was featured in a 2005 West Virginia Public Broadcasting documentary The Kingmaker[3] and in the 2008 book Coal River by Michael Shnayerson.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings show Blankenship was paid $17.8 million in 2009, the highest in the coal industry. His 2009 pay represents a $6.8 million raise over 2008 and almost double his compensation package in 2007. Blankenship also received a deferred compensation package valued at $27.2 million in 2009.[4][5]

On December 3, 2010, Blankenship announced that he was retiring as CEO at the end of the year, and would be succeeded by Massey President Baxter F. Phillips Jr..[6]

Contents

Biography

Don Blankenship was born in Stopover, Kentucky and raised in Delorme, West Virginia. His father served in the Korean War, and his mother was a member of the McCoy family; they divorced soon after Don was born, and Don's mother ran a convenience store and gas station with her divorce settlement money.[7] Three years after graduating from Matewan High School,[8] West Virginia, and earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Marshall University in 1972.[9][10] He was the recipient of Marshall University’s “Most Distinguished Alumni” award and inducted into the Lewis College of Business Hall of Fame in 1999.[11]

Blankenship is certified as a public accountant.[12] In 2002, he was inducted into the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Business and Industry Hall of Fame[13] and recognized by the West Virginia Society of CPA’s as an Outstanding Member in Business and Industry.[14] Blankenship was also inducted into the Tug Valley Mining Institute Hall of Fame.[12]

Blankenship joined a Massey subsidiary, Rawl Sales & Processing Co., in 1982. Since then he has served the company in a number of capacities.[15] He was promoted to president of Massey Coal Services, Inc. (1989–1991), then president and chief Operating Officer from 1990 to 1991.[16]

In 1992, Blankenship was named president, chairman of the board of A.T. Massey.[16] He is the first non-Massey family member to be in charge of the company.[17] When A.T. Massey was spun off from Fluor Corporation as Massey Energy in 2000, Blankenship became the newly independent company's chairman and CEO.

He also serves as a director of the Center for Energy and Economic Development, a director of the National Mining Association, Mission West Virginia Inc, and is on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce board of directors.[18][19]

He is divorced and lives in Rawl, West Virginia.[11] Blankenship has two children.[20] His son John is a dirt track car racer.[21]

Involvement in public affairs

Politics

Blankenship is an active participant in West Virginia politics. Blankenship, who grew up beside the railroad tracks in a tiny border town in the Tug Fork River valley, says he has a perspective that fuels his desire for change in West Virginia.[20]

Photographs of Blankenship vacationing on the French Riviera with West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Spike Maynard, while Massey had a case pending before that court, have appeared in the New York Times.[22] On Feb. 14, 2009, Blankenship told the New York Times, "I’ve been around West Virginia long enough to know that politicians don’t stay bought, particularly ones that are going to be in office for 12 years...So I would never go out and spend money to try to gain favor with a politician. Eliminating a bad politician makes sense. Electing somebody hoping he’s going to be in your favor doesn’t make any sense at all."[23]

In 2004, Blankenship contributed $3 million to the "And For The Sake of the Kids" PAC, campaigning against the re-election of West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw. Brent Benjamin would go on to defeat McGraw in the general election. Speaking about the election, Blankenship said, "I helped defeat a judge who had released a pedophile to work in a local school, who had driven doctors out of state, and who had cost workers their jobs for thirty plus years. I think this effort helped unchain West Virginia's economy and benefited working families." [24] However, USA Today called Blankenship's ads "venomous." [25] According to a USA Today editorial dated March 3, 2009, Blankenship "has vividly illustrated how big money corrupts judicial elections. It puts justice up for sale to the highest bidder."[25]

Charity

Blankenship founded Massey Energy Spousal Groups that led all charitable work for the company and its employees. The Massey website described them as providing "financial support to the Groups as they assist children, the elderly, fire departments and many other deserving individuals and programs. Projects included town and stream cleanups, school book fairs, local park improvement, senior citizen appreciation dinners and the annual Christmas Extravaganzas." [26]

Views

At a public speech to the Tug Valley Mining Institute on Nov 20, 2008, Blankenship called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Harry Reid and former Vice President Al Gore "crazies" and "greeniacs."[27] In the same speech, he also stated, "I don't believe climate change is real."[28] He associated President Jimmy Carter's support for energy conservation in the 1970s with communism: "Buy a smaller car? Conserve? I have spent quite a bit of time in Russia and China, and that's the first stage."

In a letter to the editor of the Charleston (WV) Gazette dated Oct. 30, 2009 Blankenship denied that climate change, or "global warming," existed, and stated: "Why should we trust a report by the United Nations? The United Nations includes countries like Venezuela, North Korea and Iran." [29]

At a 2009 Labor Day pro-coal rally in West Virginia,[30] Blankenship expressed his true views on the role of the federal government and state authorities in ensuring miner safety:[31]

"We also endure a Mine Safety and Health Administration that seeks power over coal miners versus improving their safety and their health. As someone who has overseen the mining of more coal than anyone else in the history of central Appalachia, I know that the safety and health of coal miners is my most important job. I don’t need Washington politicians to tell me that, and neither do you. But I also know — I also know Washington and state politicians have no idea how to improve miner safety. The very idea that they care more about coal miner safety than we do is as silly as global warming".

Controversy

Warren McGraw

Washington political journalist Michael Tomasky, himself a native West Virginian, claimed that Blankenship was "famous in West Virginia as the man who successfully bought himself a State Supreme Court Justice in 2004 and then tried to buy himself the state legislature, failing spectacularly at the latter effort."[32] Tomasky wrote:

“ The Justice he succeeded in having replaced in 2004 was Warren McGraw. McGraw was up for reelection in 2004, and Blankenship wanted him out. That McGraw had sided with workers was not likely to stir much passionate opposition, so Blankenship found a case in which McGraw had been part of a 3–2 majority that had freed a mentally disturbed child molester who then went to work in a school. Blankenship established and funded an independent tax-deductible group called "And for the Sake of the Kids," which ran ads attacking McGraw's part in the decision. McGraw was defeated, and Brent Benjamin, the conservative candidate took his seat on the court. To demonstrate that his interest in the children was sincere, Blankenship had vowed that after the election, he would endow a foundation to help the state's needy children.[32] ”

Michael Shnayerson, in his book Coal River (2008), reports that no such foundation was ever set up and that Blankenship's tactics didn't help other Republicans in the state. In 2006, the $3 million that he had provided to forty Republican challengers to Democratic state legislators brought just a single victory.[33] Although Blankenship was the primary donor to "And For the Sake of Kids," other groups, including Doctors for Justice, contributed over $1 million to ASK. Another group, Citizens for Quality Health Care, which was funded in part by the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, spent over $350,000 to defeat McGraw.[34] Meanwhile, several groups spent millions opposing Benjamin and supporting McGraw, including West Virginia Consumers for Justice and Hugh Caperton, CEO of Harmon Development Corporation.[35]

Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co.

Main article: Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co.

As of April 2010, Massey had a $77 million case pending, Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Co. in which a smaller coal mining company, Harman Mining, made allegations of contract interference on Massey's part.[36] In November 2008, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear Harman Mining's appeal of the case.[37] Wal-Mart, PepsiCo, Intel, Lockheed Martin, Common Cause and Public Citizen all filed briefs in the case urging the Supreme Court to throw out the West Virginia Supreme Court's decision in favor of Massey. The corporations contended that Justice Brent Benjamin was biased in the case—specifically, in favor of Massey. Blankenship made approximately $3 million in independent expenditures against McGraw, the incumbent judge in the 2004 campaign for the West Va. Supreme Court, and only contributed $1000 to Benjamin's campaign. On June 9, 2009, The New York Times opined that the case involved "egregious ethical myopia" on the part of Justice Benjamin.[38] .[39]

Following the decision, many legal scholars disagreed with the Supreme Court's decision: "If the U.S. Supreme Court rules that an 'appearance of impropriety' such as to require recusal by a judge may be determined by forces external to the judge's own conscience...it will place our system on a slippery slope that knows no boundaries." [40]

Photographer incident

On April 3, 2008, ABC News reported that Blankenship attacked an ABC News photographer at a Massey facility near Belfry, Kentucky as the photographer attempted to question Blankenship about photos published in the New York Times [22] showing Blankenship on vacation in Monaco with West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard. "If you're going to start taking pictures of me, you're liable to get shot!" Blankenship stated in the video.[41]

Following the incident, Justice Maynard lost his bid for re-election to the West Virginia Supreme Court in the West Virginia primary election.[42]

Upper Big Branch disaster

Main article: Upper Big Branch Mine disaster

On April 5, 2010, an explosion at Massey's Upper Big Branch mine killed 29 miners. It was the worst U.S. coal mining disaster since 1970, when an explosion killed 38 in Hyden, Kentucky. In 2006, a fatal accident at Aracoma Alma (also owned by Massey Coal Co.) was one of the explosions prompting Congress to upgrade federal mine safety laws for the first time since 1977.[43] As Blankenship came under increased scrutiny, a Business Week article said that he has a reputation for resistance to spending money, a willingness to litigate, and to personally go into mines to persuade workers to abandon union organizing efforts.[44] On April 12, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the sole trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund which holds 303,550 shares of Massey stock worth about $14.1 million, called for Blankenship to resign immediately. "Massey's cavalier attitude toward risk and callous disregard for the safety of its employees has exacted a horrible cost on dozens of hard-working miners and their loved ones," DiNapoli said in a public statement reported by Reuters and others. "This tragedy was a failure both of risk management and effective board oversight. Blankenship must step down and make room for more responsible leadership at Massey."[45] On April 22, Massey Energy's lead independent director Bobby R. Inman announced that "Blankenship has the full support and confidence of the Massey Energy Board of Directors."[46] On April 25, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and state officials paid tribute to the 29 coal miners at a memorial service in Beckley, WV[47]

Other

  • A former employee of Blankenship, Deborah May, similarly filed a lawsuit which claimed that stress from personal abuse forced her to quit her job as Blankenship's personal maid in November 2005. The lawsuit claimed that such comparatively minor mistakes as a wrong breakfast order from McDonald's, misplaced ice cream in the freezer, and an improperly hung jacket in the closet caused difficulties with Blankenship.[48] In June 2008, West Virginia's top court ruled that May was entitled to unemployment benefits because "the unrefuted evidence" showed that Blankenship "physically grabbed" the maid, threw food after she brought back the wrong fast-food order, and tore a tie rack and coat hanger out of a closet after she forgot to leave the hanger out for his coat. "This shocking conduct" showed May was in effect fired because she felt compelled to quit, the justices said. They said the conduct was "reminiscent of slavery and is an affront to common decency.":[49]
  • In 2005, Blankenship wrote a memo to employees telling them that maximizing coal production was more important than spending time constructing things like support beams or ventilation shafts:[50]
“ If any of you have been asked by your group presidents, your supervisors, engineers or anyone else to do anything other than run coal (i.e., build overcasts, do construction jobs, or whatever) you need to ignore them and run coal. ”
  • In October 2006, Grist.org, Seattle-based environmental e-magazine, chose Blankenship as "the scariest polluter in the U.S."[51]
  • When groundwater pollution from coal slurry injection by Massey Energy, began contaminating wells around Blankenship's home, Massey paid to build a water line to his home from a neighboring town. Blankenship did not offer to provide uncontaminated water to any of his neighbors.[52]

References

  1. ^ "Major U.S. Coal Producers". Energy Information Administration. September 18, 2009. http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/coal/page/acr/table10.html. Retrieved April 7, 2010. 
  2. ^ T Allen, ‘Investors Tout Their Role in Massey’s Leadership Change’ (7 December 2010) Riskmetrics
  3. ^ "The Kingmaker, part 1 of 5". YouTube. 2005-11-03. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykNMQZXfc_0&feature=related. Retrieved 2010-04-06. 
  4. ^ Berkes, Howard. "Massey CEO's Pay Soared As Mine Concerns Grew". NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126072828&ps=cprs. Retrieved 2010-04-23. 
  5. ^ "The Massey mine disaster isn't just tragic, it's criminal". OregonLive.com. 2010-04-15. http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/04/the_massey_mine_disaster_isnt.html. Retrieved 2010-04-23. 
  6. ^ Parker, Mario (2010-12-03). "Massey's Blankenship to Retire Dec. 30, Be Replaced by President Phillips". Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-03/massey-energy-says-don-blankenship-to-retire-as-chief-executive-dec-30.html. Retrieved 2010-12-03. 
  7. ^ Goodell, Jeff (December 9, 2010), "The Dark Lord of Coal Country", Rolling Stone (1119): pp. 82–89, 128, http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-dark-lord-of-coal-country-20101129?print=true 
  8. ^ "Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition". Ohvec.org. http://www.ohvec.org/links/news/archive/2003/fair_use/01_07.html. Retrieved 2010-04-06. 
  9. ^ Deborah Solomon (2006-02-13). "A Coal CEO's Unusual Pastime: Firing Up West Virginia Politics". The Wall Street Journal, page A1. http://www.stopdown.net/gov%20W%20VA%20coal%20exec%20wsj.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-21. 
  10. ^ "Blankenship to speak at energy symposium". The Herald Dispatch. 2008-10-23. http://www.herald-dispatch.com/business/x802979294/Blankenship-to-speak-at-energy-symposium. Retrieved 2010-04-06. 
  11. ^ a b "ON THE RECORD: Don Blankenship, Massey's Don Blankenship talks candidly about his company and its future in southern West Virginia | North America > United States from". AllBusiness.com. 2002-09-23. http://www.allbusiness.com/environment-natural-resources/environmentalism/11428264-1.html. Retrieved 2010-04-06. 
  12. ^ a b [1][dead link]
  13. ^ "American Accounting Association - News Archive". Aaahq.org. http://aaahq.org/newsarc.cfm. Retrieved 2010-04-06. 
  14. ^ [2][dead link]
  15. ^ http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=658508&symbol=MEE o http://www.wvec.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8E477907.html
  16. ^ a b Don L. Blankenship. "Don Blankenship: Executive Profile & Biography - BusinessWeek". Investing.businessweek.com. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=658508&symbol=MEE. Retrieved 2010-04-06. 
  17. ^ "Horsehead Industries, Inc. - Company History". Fundinguniverse.com. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Horsehead-Industries-Inc-Company-History.html. Retrieved 2010-04-23. 
  18. ^ http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=658508&symbol=MEE o http://www.uschamber.com/about/board/all.htm
  19. ^ "Corporate Governance || Massey Energy". Phx.corporate-ir.net. http://phx.corporate-ir.net/preview/phoenix.zhtml?c=102864&p=irol-govBio&ID=140028. Retrieved 2010-04-06. 
  20. ^ a b [3][dead link]
  21. ^ http://www.blankenshipracing.com/
  22. ^ a b Liptak, Adam (2008-01-15). "Motion Ties W. Virginia Justice to Coal Executive". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/us/15court.html. 
  23. ^ Liptak, Adam (2009-02-15). "Case May Alter Judge Elections Across Country". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/washington/15scotus.html?ref=washington. 
  24. ^ "Don L. Blankenship Addresses the U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Caperton v. A.T. Massey...". Reuters. 2009-06-10. http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS159711+10-Jun-2009+PRN20090610. Retrieved 2010-04-06. 
  25. ^ a b "Usatoday.Com". Usatoday.Com. 2009-03-02. http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090303/editorial03_st.art.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-06. 
  26. ^ "Community || Massey Energy Company". Massey Energy. http://www.masseyenergyco.com/community/groups.shtml. Retrieved 2010-04-06. 
  27. ^ "The Big Lies Of Big Coal: Don Blankenship Speaks". YouTube. 2008-12-10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M_XbeXDNnM. Retrieved 2010-04-06. 
  28. ^ "Big Coal, Big Lies #1: Climate change does not exist". YouTube. 2008-12-09. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEl7dF8N-ZU&e. Retrieved 2010-04-06. 
  29. ^ http://www.wvgazette.com/Opinion/Letters/200910290659
  30. ^ "Friends of America Rally". Friends of America Rally. 2009-09-07. http://friendsofamericarally.com/. Retrieved 2010-04-23. 
  31. ^ "Don Blankenship called safety regulators “as silly as global warming” « Climate Progress". Climateprogress.org. 2010-04-12. http://climateprogress.org/2010/04/12/don-blankenship-mine-safety-regulators-silly-global-warming/. Retrieved 2010-04-23. 
  32. ^ a b Tomasky, Michael, “Night Comes to the Appalachians” New York Review of Books, Volume 55, Number 14; 25 September 2008.
  33. ^ Shnayerson, Michael (2008), Coal River, New York, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
  34. ^ Nyden, Paul (Jan. 7, 2005, Charleston Gazette), "Coal, Doctor's Groups Donated to Anti-McGraw Effort."
  35. ^ O'Brien, John (West Virginia Record Jan. 24, 2008) "Caperton was Anti-Benjamin from the Start."
  36. ^ http://wvgazette.com/News/200811080381
  37. ^ US Supreme Court agrees to hear Massey Energy case | http://www.coaloutlook.com/Coal/News/6020386.xml
  38. ^ "Honest Justice". The New York Times. 2009-06-09. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/opinion/09tue1.html. 
  39. ^ [4][dead link]
  40. ^ http://www.dailymail.com/Opinion/Commentary/200902090107
  41. ^ "Coal Boss: If You Take Photos, 'You're Liable to Get Shot' - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. 2008-04-03. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4582452&page=1. Retrieved 2010-04-06. 
  42. ^ Urbina, Ian (2008-05-15). "West Virginia's Top Judge Loses His Re-election Bid". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/us/15judge.html?pagewanted=print. 
  43. ^ "Churchgoers Honor 29 Dead Miners _ and Profession - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=10343122. Retrieved 2010-04-23. 
  44. ^ "Massey’s Blankenship Fought Regulators, Town, Maid as Coal CEO". BusinessWeek. 2010-04-10. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-10/massey-s-blankenship-fought-regulators-town-maid-as-coal-ceo.html. Retrieved 2010-04-23. 
  45. ^ Steve James (2010-04-13). "Massey faces shareholder anger over mine disaster". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63C2Q920100413. Retrieved 2010-04-23. 
  46. ^ Coal Boss Don Blankenship Has Full Support of Massey Energy Board
  47. ^ Obama eulogizes 29 West Virginia miners -- 'Don't let this happen again'
  48. ^ http://dailymail.com/News/Kanawha/200804010144
  49. ^ Margaret Cronin Fisk, Brian K. Sullivan and Karen Freifeld. "Massey Energy: The Accountant of Coal". BusinessWeek. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_17/b4175048798671.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-15. 
  50. ^ Investing Daily. "Massey Energy: A Dirty Coal Company". Investingdaily.com. http://www.investingdaily.com/id/17176/massey-energy-a-dirty-coal-company.html. Retrieved 2010-04-07. 
  51. ^ "Massey Energy CEO is a really bad dude". Grist. http://www.grist.org/article/don-blankenship-seventh-scariest-person-in-america/. Retrieved 2010-04-07. 
  52. ^ "Don Blankenship: The Dark Lord of Coal Country". Rolling Stone. 2010-11-29. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/236336?RS_show_page=4. Retrieved 2010-12-10. 

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Blankenship — Family name name = Blankenship image size = caption = pronunciation = meaning = region = language = related names = search = prefix = footnotes = Blankenship is a family name that may refer to:* Don Blankenship, president of the Massey Energy… …   Wikipedia

  • Don Draper — Jon Hamm as Don Draper. Mad Men Portrayed by Jon Hamm First appearance Smoke Gets in Your Eyes ( …   Wikipedia

  • Don Draper — Personnage de fiction apparaissant dans Mad Men …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Don Morton — Sport(s) Football Biographical details Born April 10, 1947 (1947 04 10) (age 64) Place of birth Flint, Michigan Playing c …   Wikipedia

  • Massey Energy — Type Public Traded as NYSE: MEE …   Wikipedia

  • Joe Manchin — Manchin redirects here. For Irish saints of this name, see Mainchín. Joe Manchin United States Senator from West Virginia Incumbent …   Wikipedia

  • Brent Benjamin — Brent D. Benjamin is a justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. Justice Benjamin hails originally from Marietta, Ohio, but has made residence in West Virginia for the past 20 years. Before his election, he was a principal attorney… …   Wikipedia

  • Mingo County, West Virginia — Location in the state of West Virginia …   Wikipedia

  • Williamson, West Virginia — Infobox Settlement official name = Williamson, West Virginia settlement type = City nickname = motto = imagesize = 250px image caption = Williamson, West Virginia; view looking down East 2nd Ave. image mapsize = 250x200px map caption = Location… …   Wikipedia

  • United States Senate election in West Virginia, 2006 — The West Virginia United States Senate Election of 2006 was held on November 7, 2006. Robert C. Byrd (D), John Raese (R), and Jesse Johnson (Mt) appeared on the ballot [http://www.wvsos.com/elections/candidates/CumulativeCandidateListResidentGenli… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”