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With a personal fortune of US $ 11.5bn , Philip Anschutz made his fortune by playing the energy markets and winning .
Born on 28 December 1939 in Kansas , Philip Frederick Anschutz made his debut at a time when the western world was in crisis . Hitler had invaded Poland and was beginning his steady march across Europe . The US would not enter the fray for another four years – but the reverberations of war were rippling towards the US , regardless .
At that time , the US midwest was still recovering from the fallout of the Great Depression and , as is customary in the aftermath of disaster , opportunists were making their mark . One such man was Fred Anschutz , Philip ’ s father , who worked as a ‘ wildcatter ’, more commonly described as an ‘ independent driller of exploratory oil wells ’.
The wheels of industry were turning fast in the US at that time , and demand for more power to fuel the growing number of factories and industrial sites – as well as the burgeoning automobile industry – was huge .
The family moved to Wichita , where Fred Anschutz found contractual success and Philip attended high school . A keen student , he then went on to study a finance degree at the University of Kansas , graduating with Honours in 1961 .
Delving into industry With his interest firmly in financial legal matters , Anschutz had planned to complete a postgraduate law degree at the University of Virginia . Prior to starting the first semester , however , he returned to Wichita to take over the family business , Circle A Drilling , which was in difficulty due to his father ’ s descent into alcoholism and consequent range of health issues .
With his acute business acumen and knowledge of the financial markets , Anschutz soon had the company back on its feet and thriving . But his foray into business management in the energy industry had whet his appetite for big business – so he moved to Denver , the heart of the industry , to launch his own company , Anschutz Corporation , in 1965 .
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