RIP Gregg

Dallas Zoo president-CEO Gregg Hudson dies following battle with cancer

RIP Dallas Zoo CEO Gregg Hudson.

scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net

Gregg Hudson, the president and CEO of the Dallas Zoo has died. According to a post on the zoo's Facebook page, he passed away after a "brief but valiant battle" with cancer. He was 64.

The post further says that he passed away late last week.

"He was a friend and a mentor to so many, not only here in Dallas, but across the country and around the world," the post said.

Hudson was the Dallas Zoo’s president and CEO since 2006, and led the zoo through the creation of a public/private partnership with the city of Dallas in 2009.

He also served on the national board of directors for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), as well as on the boards of Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (Rwanda) and the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center (Democratic Republic of the Congo).

Prior to the Dallas Zoo, Gregg spent 10 years as Executive Director and CEO of the Fort Worth Zoo; then more than five years as the President and CEO of the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden; before returning to the DFW area to lead the Dallas Zoo.

During his tenure, the zoo opened the 11-acre "Giants of the Savanna" habitat in May 2010.

He was also an instrumental figure in the Dallas Zoo's 2016 removal of 18 elephants from Swaziland, in partnership with the Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas, and Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo in Nebraska — a move that drew condemnation from conservationists around the world. One elephant died in the process.

The attention inspired an international organization to enact a resolution banning African elephants caught in the wild from being sold and shipped to countries outside of Africa.

Only recently, Hudson was in the public eye when he appeared at a press conference on January 23, following a series of incidents at the zoo, including a clouded leopard getting out of its cage, the death of a vulture, and two tamarin monkeys that were taken from the zoo, then recovered; a man has since been arrested.

The family requests that donations be made to the Dallas Zoo or to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

deaths animals

Forbes list news

27 Dallas billionaires land on new Forbes list of world's richest people

Photos by Dana Driensky and John Strange

undefined

The world’s richest people are wealthier now than they've ever been, and more billionaires have made it onto the 2025 World's Billionaires List than ever before, according to Forbes. This year, 27 Dallas billionaires are among the richest people in the world.

Leading the list of richest Dallasites is Elaine Marshall and her family, who ranked No. 67 overall with an estimated net worth of $28.3 billion. Forbes says Marshall owns about 16 percent of multinational conglomerate corporation Koch Inc., which was inherited by her late husband, E. Pierce Marshall, after he died in 2006.

Ranking 10 spots behind as the No. 77 richest person in the world is oil magnate Lyndal Stephens Greth and her family. Forbes estimates her net worth at $25.8 billion in 2025.

Greth was the chairman of Endeavor Energy Resources, a private oil production firm that was founded by her late father, Autry Stephens. Prior to his death in August 2024, Stephens agreed to sell the company to Diamondback Energy in a $26 billion deal that closed in September 2024.

"Endeavor was one of the largest private oil producers in the U.S., generating some 327,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2024," Forbes says. "The company had the rights to drill on more than 500,000 acres in the U.S., mainly in Texas."

$Two x Two Gala 2024, \u200bGene Jones, Jerry Jones$ Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is now worth nearly $17 billion. Photo by Bruno, Snap The Picture

Here's how the rest of Dallas billionaires fared on this year's list:

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones: ranked No. 127 with an estimated net worth of $16.6 billion, up from $13.8 billion in 2024
Banking and real estate mogul Andy Beal: No. 199, $12 billion, up from $11.5 billion
Money manager Ken Fisher: No. 224, $11.2 billion, up from $8.7 billion
Hotel and investment guru Robert Rowling: No. 353, $8.5 billion, down from $8.9 billion
Oil and gas tycoon Kelcy Warren: No. 464, $7.1 billion, up from $6 billion
Oil and real estate titan Ray Lee Hunt: No. 498, $6.8 billion, down from $7.2 billion
Media magnate and former Dallas Mavericks ownerMark Cuban: No. 620, $5.7 billion, up from $5.4 billion
Margot Birmingham Perot of Dallas, widow of tech and real estate entrepreneur H. Ross Perot Sr.: No. 673, $5.3 billion, up from $4.9 billion
Oil and gas honcho Trevor Rees-Jones: No. 688, $5.2 billion, up from $4.9 billion
Real estate bigwig H. Ross Perot Jr.: No. 789, $4.6 billion, up from $3.7 billion
Private equity firm cofounder Carl Thoma: No. 823, $4.4 billion, up from $3.5 billion
Oil and gas magnate Ray Davis: No. 1015, $3.6 billion, up from $3 billion
H-E-B executive Stephen Butt & family: No. 1172, $3.1 billion, up from $2 billion
Banking businessman Gerald Ford: No. 1362, $2.7 billion, flat from 2024
Online auction CEO A. Jayson Adair: No. 1763, $2 billion, flat from 2024
Media entrepreneur Todd Wagner: No. 1850, $1.9 billion, flat from 2024
Telecommunications founder Kenny Troutt: No. 2019, $1.7 billion, flat from 2024
Kansas City Chiefs owners Clark Hunt & family, Daniel Hunt & family, and Sharron Hunt & family: tied for No. 2110, $1.6 billion, up from $1.4 billion
RealPage founder Stephen Winn: No. 2233, $1.5 billion, flat from 2024
Tech entrepreneur Darwin Deason: No. 2479, $1.3 billion, flat from 2024
Oil tycoon and film producer Timothy Headington: No. 2623, $1.2 billion, flat from 2024

There are two new Dallas-based billionaire newbies that made it on the list this year: Biotech entrepreneur Ben Lamm and real estate mogul Fernando De Leon.

Lamm founded Colossal Biosciences in 2021 to de-extinct the woolly mammoth. He ranked 979th and has an estimated net worth of $3.7 billion.

Meanwhile, De Leon made his first fortune in real estate, and sold it all before the 2008 financial crisis. He now runs Austin-based holding company Leon Capital Group, but Forbes lists his residence in Dallas. His net worth is estimated at $2.8 billion.

Missing from the 2025 list is private equity kingpin David Bonderman and oil and baron W. Herbert Hunt, who both died in 2024. Bonderman, 82, was a founding partner of private equity group TPG and served on the board of conservation nonprofit The Wilderness Society, while Hunt, 95, owned a Louisiana oil refinery.

Elsewhere in Dallas-Fort Worth, Walmart heiress Alice Walton became the wealthiest woman in the world in 2025, Forbes says. Walton knocked French L’Oreal Beauty heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyersdown to second place late last year and retains her spot on top for 2025. Walton is the 15th richest person on the planet.

Forbes declared Walton's net worth at $101 billion, which is $28.7 billion more than her 2024 net worth of $72.3 billion. She is now one of 15 individuals to claim 12-figure fortunes, also known as the "$100 Billion Club."

Meanwhile, Austin billionaire Elon Musk topped Forbes; list as the world's richest person in 2025. The Tesla and SpaceX founder knocked French luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault down to second place this year.

Forbes declared Musk the first person to reach the $300 billion status. His current net worth stands at $342 billion, which is a staggering $147 billion more than his 2024 net worth.

"It’s another record-breaking year for the world’s richest people, despite financial uncertainty for many and geopolitical tensions on the rise," said Forbes senior editor of wealth Chase Peterson-Withorn. "And, from Elon Musk to Howard Lutnick and the other billionaires taking over the U.S. government, they’re growing more and more powerful."

alice walton billionaires elon musk forbes fort worth lists richest woman wealth dallas