Exactly who is Ray Davis?

Jon Daniels,Ray Davis and Nolan Ryan. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-US PRESSWIRE

For those of you who don’t know yet, Nolan Ryan is leaving the Texas Rangers.  In just a few days at the end of October he will be stepping down as the CEO of the Texas Rangers and he will also be selling all of his interest in the Rangers to Bob Simpson and Ray Davis.   Since the end of the 2009 season when Nolan Ryan and the investment group bought the Texas Rangers, Ray Davis has been a silent partner with Simpson and group, but he’ll soon be stepping up to do many of the functions that Ryan was doing.

The question now, who is Ray Davis?

You’ll notice from the picture, you can see the man in grey with Jon Daniels, Ron Washington and Nolan Ryan.  That’s Ray Davis!  It’s hard to find pictures of him.  Because one, he’s rarely in the spotlight and two, if he is, he’s in the back of the group.  That’s Davis for you.

According to Forbes magazine, Davis is worth about 1.9 billion in 2013, a value that he’s steady brought to that value since 1996.  He’s mainly a oil and gas man like his other fellow investors.

Ray Davis, who is 71, made that 1.9 billion with his investments in buying small gas pipelines.  Davis started making it big during time Texas was going through the deregulation for electricity.  Between his acquisitions and sells in the energy business, Davis has made him self a billionaire.

It does make sense that a bunch of oil and gas investors in the state of Texas would buy something like the Texas Rangers.  Each of the men in the investment group have excellent financial resources to help the team achieve their goals with the Rangers.

Which leads to no surprise that at the end of the 2013 season, the Texas Rangers now ranks as the 10th most valued club just over 1 billion dollars.  The World Series has helped bring back  to back seasons of 3 million plus visitors to the ballpark and a lucrative television pack from Fox Sports.

But who is Ray Davis?

According to Bud Selig, he said the following before game 2 of the World Series.

“It hasn’t been quite determined, but [Davis] will be the control person,” (Adam Berry)

He’s basically remained pretty low profile partner since the sale in 2009.  Since Davis doesn’t normally do interviews, and is usually quite, you might not even have noticed him if he was in plain site.  He’s was in the courtroom when the Texas Rangers was sold to Chuck Greenberg, Ryan and the investment group, and also he was there to help explain the departure of Chuck Greenberg at the end of the 2010 season.

So it is hard to really get a grasp on who he is.  He’s the polar opposite of a Jerry Jones and Mark Cuban.  You’re not going to see Davis rapping in commercials or trying to buy businesses on a tv show.

Davis is a calm and very savoy business man.  Also, his business smarts out way his ability to remain quiet behind the scenes.  I would expect that to change some now he’s now stepping up to be the figure head of the Texas Rangers, but don’t expect to see him as much as we saw Nolan Ryan.  Anyone that watched games, visited the ballpark, conferences or commercials always saw Nolan Ryan.  That won’t happen as much.

Davis does know more than just gas and oil.  In 2012 he was quoted saying the following:

“There are no shortcuts in this business,” he said. “People have tried to buy championships before without success. You win with people, you build from within, and you try to keep as much payroll flexibility as you possibly can.”  (Thomas Korosec)

That’s not a bad thing.   Ryan was there to give the investment group credibly, he was the face of the franchise, and it worked.  The Texas Rangers went to the playoffs 3 years in a row and captured 2 pennants.  Ryan did a fantastic job.  The transition of roles to Jon Daniels and Ray Davis will go smoothly and the club will be fine.

Ray Davis isn’t officially the figure head of the Texas Rangers yet, but once MLB owners hold their next meeting in November, it should be finalize and be official.  Expect to see Ray Davis from this point forward attending MLB and other meetings and speaking for the Texas Rangers.

What will Ray Davis be doing?  For the most part, Davis will be the controlling owner of the Texas Rangers, you will see him at all of the meetings, and probably at major press conferences.  Besides that, you’ll Jon Daniels handling the day to day baseball decisions.  This comes as no surprise.

What is the value of the Texas Rangers?

According to Forbes we can see how the value has increased from ownership to ownership

Purchaser:Date/Price ($mil)

• Brad Corbett: 1974/$11
• Eddie Chiles: 1980/$30
• George W. Bush: 1989/$80
• Tom Hicks: 1998/$250
• Simpson/Davis/Ryan: 2010/$593

Notes:

• Ray Davis and group will pay about $10 million to buy out Nolan Ryan
• Nolan Ryan served as CEO/President for the past 6 years
• Ray Davis is ranked #296 on the Forbes 400.  Was #311 in 2012. (Forbes.com)
  
• Currently married, with 3 children and resides in Dallas, Texas