to shareholders. It also critically assessed Donating more than $652 million to his alma mater, T. Boone Pickens was one of the most companies, with ratings determined by generous university benefactors of all time. Courtesy Oklahoma Hall of Fame Archives. performance, executive compensation, and acknowledgement of shareholders’ rights. The USA had its most apparent success in July 1988, when it got the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to pass a one-share, one-vote rule for all corporations and their shareholders. Even more important, however, was the overall impact that the association had on corporate America. By the 1990s, American businesses had become more productive and competitive than they had ever been. Pickens continued to acquire natural gas-producing companies with the expectation that gas prices would increase. Unfortunately, prices plummeted in the late 1980s and through the 1990s, exacerbating Mesa’s debt covenants. He was forced to resign as head of Mesa on December 31, 1996, but continued to work for the company, serving as commodity market consultant until 1997 and then as a member of the company’s board of directors. He focused on resolving Mesa’s debt long after his departure from the company. Soon after stepping down, Pickens formed and chaired BP Capital LP, a hedge fund that managed billions of dollars for energy industry investors. The fund would continue until December 2017, when Pickens’ declining health forced its closure. To promote natural gas as an alternative to fossil fuels, in 1997 Pickens formed Pickens Fuel Corp., the predecessor to the company known today as Clean Energy Fuels. In 2005, Pickens made the single- largest donation in NCAA history when he gifted $165 million to his alma mater, Oklahoma State University. That same year he also donated $7 million to the American Red Cross, the largest individual donation the organization had received in its 150 years of existence. In 2006, Pickens launched the T. Boone Pickens Foundation, an enormous, multi- charity fund that focused on providing monetary donations to medical research, medicine, and treatment; professional development and entrepreneurship; at-risk youth; corporate health and 昀椀tness; and T. Boone Pickens presented Oklahoma State University President V. Burns Hargis for induction to environmental and wildlife conservation. the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2009. Courtesy Oklahoma Hall of Fame Archives. 33