"I enjoy the Floridian. Crane actually played the game.

Advertisement. [39] As part of the donation, Crane renamed the baseball field in honor of Robert Tompkins, the CMSU baseball coach who did not let him drop out of school. Crane’s child Jared is a leader of baseball tasks for the Astros. He sold his first company for more than $300 million. No information is available on … Fourth time's a charm. He came to Houston pulling all his possessions in a U-Haul trailer. His coach's legacy would not be forgotten. [1], Crane, who grew up in the north St. Louis suburb of Dellwood, Missouri, attended Lutheran High School North and graduated in 1972. Crane pitched for the Central Missouri Mules baseball team. And he will be the unquestioned ownership face of the Astros, something he never would have experienced with Cuban involved in the Rangers. After Crane bought the Floridian National Golf Club for $25.6 million from former Dolphins and Marlins owner H. Wayne Huizenga last year, he brought in Harmon to open one of his signature learning centers and teach at the club. Crane is friends with Tiger Woods' old coach. [24], After buying the Astros in 2011, Crane began expanding the Astros Foundation by contributing donations and securing corporate partnerships.

Crane gave one of the eulogies at Tompkins' funeral. [26] Jim Crane was named personally in the lawsuit. Hot Heights bagel bakery gets Wild with rising star chef, Swanky new Heights whiskey bar uncasks 350 spirited options, Texas' beloved Whataburger finally adds spicy chicken sandwich to menu, Heights music venue reveals big names for new outdoor concert series, The Glorias attempts to show the many layers of Gloria Steinem, Hot Heights drive-in theater honors Ruth Bader Ginsburg and more, New art project tunes Houstonians in to music along Buffalo Bayou, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston unveils details for historic new opening, Downtown Houston throws open window on cool new public art project, Cherished Houston fashion charity rolls out haute drive-thru soiree, Late-night celebrity headlines Houston school's virtual fundraiser, Theatre Under the Stars taps Broadway leading man for virtual gala, Discovery Green presents "House of Cards", Bayou Preservation Association presents 17th Annual Symposium, Holocaust Museum Houston presents "Mandela: Struggle for Freedom", Houston Arboretum herds in 120 goats for unique landscaping care, Houston Independent School District launches new COVID-19 tracker, Ken Hoffman says 'Gig 'em' to Texas A&M for new COVID-19 safety steps, Where to shop in Houston right now: 6 best looks for cool fall weather, Texas-based Neiman Marcus emerges from bankruptcy with new owners, New on-demand nail service delivers at-home manis and pedis to Houston, How much it pays in Houston to negotiate your home's price, Star-studded Hill Country ranch dances onto auction block for $4.75M, Famous Houston-area home with America's largest closet finally sells, English manor near Memorial Park gallops onto market for $29.5 million, Houston IKEA opens with built-in measures to combat COVID-19, It's curtains for Texas-based Pier 1 with big liquidation sale, Houston kids connect to $1 million in new tech thanks to nonprofit, Texas-based ride-share and delivery service rolls into Houston, Amazon unlocks 2 prime brick-and-mortar stores in the Houston area, Galveston restaurants serve up tasty way to dine out for charity, Houston hotels suffered Texas' fourth biggest drop in revenue, Stately story of how 'the most historic house in Texas' came to Austin, Houston Texans announce date for fans' return to NRG Stadium, Major League Baseball tosses 2020 World Series to this Texas stadium, Prolific Houston Rockets coach announces surprise departure from team, Houston Texans cheerleader drama: A rose ceremony, slinky cocktail dresses and oh yes, twins, Meet the big name partners of new Astros owner Jim Crane: Other power players involved in the deal, Houston star chef reveals details on hot new Vietnamese restaurant, Traverse Texas state parks in a luxury RV for the ultimate fall escape, Where to rent an RV for all your amazing summer road trips, Mental health gets a spotlight at free online summit for Houston employers, Ways Houston employees can get access to sweet medical work perks, These innovative Houston clinics are taking urgent care to the next level, A new, piping-hot Heights coffee shop, plus phat dim sum in Katy, Unwrapping a Houston pita favorite, plus Tony Vallone remembered, Houston's new self-service bar and restaurant, plus a blooming cafe, Hoffman on the easiest ways for Houstonians to travel during COVID-19, Here's why Houston-born Travis Scott's McDonald's deal is good news, Where to eat in Houston: 11 bars that have reopened as restaurants, Where to eat in Houston: 11 best patios for socially distanced dining, Where to eat in Houston now: 12 favorite Black-owned restaurants, Annual autumn art festival returns to CityCentre. 9). [35] Crane's son Jared is senior vice president of executive operations for the Astros. The owner and chairman of the MLB team Houston Astros lives here. This isn't someone who started loving baseball after he became rich — and capable of putting together a group with the cash and credentials to join MLB's ultra-profitable owner's club.

Being born on 17 January 1954, Jim Crane is 66years old as of today’s date 27th September 2020. 1 in Golf Digest's rankings of the nation's top CEO golfers in 2006 with a 0.8 handicap index (2006 was one of the last times that Golf Digest did the once-regular CEO rankings as executives grew wary of being associated with playing a lot of golf). Crane came even closer to leaving school when tragedy struck his family with the death of his father between his freshman and sophomore year at Central Missouri. He and Wheeler have a son together, James Robert Crane II. 6). Crane pays back his debts. [2] He gave the school a donation of $1 million to improve their athletic facilities and enlarge the size of the campus from 40 acres to 67 in 2004. [34] The ceremony took place the Floridian National Golf Club. [10], Crane took his profits from EGL and formed Crane Capital Group. 8). Later, after Crane obtained equity backing he initially offered $36 per-share for EGL, but Apollo then engaged in a bidding war and the shareholders eventually went with the Apollo/CEVA offer of $47.50 per share.

No, Crane wasn't close to a Major Leaguer. [15] MLB Commissioner Bud Selig intended for Houston to change divisions from the 6-club National League Central to the 4-club American League West. By the time, Crane unloaded his shares of the company it was an international freight power player with 11,000 employees that handled the needs of mammoth clients like Nike, 3M and Target around the world. During the Memorial Day weekend in 2017, Crane married Whitney Wheeler. He also became a director and shareholder (less than 1%) in Western Gas Holdings, LLC, the general partner in Western Gas Partners, LP, a mid-stream (mainly pipelines and natural gas gathering assets) energy company operating in the southeastern Rocky Mountain region and southern Mid-Continent area (Oklahoma and Texas) of the United States. "I've known Jim forever," Harmon said in a press release announcing the deal. [36] His daughter, Krystal Crane Thompson, is a board member of the Crane Family Foundation. First, he married his ex-wife, Franci Neely Crane, who is a financial supporter of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. [8], After graduating from college Crane went into the insurance business. The Pebble Beach estate gives Crane easy access to the golf he loves.

[20][21] That year, he also started a commercial safety supply and training company called Crane Safety and acquired Davaco, a company that manages and executes high-volume remodels and technology deployments. When Crane started Eagle Global Logistics, it wasn't very global. He is also the owner and chairman of the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). In April 2010 he purchased The Floridian National Golf Club from Wayne Huizenga. When Hevrdejs' assistant Kendal Rotan took a CultureMap call, she noted that Hevrdejs has received a number of interview requests about Crane and turned them all down. And former ace pitcher. She studied at Pinewood High School in Los Angeles and California Polytechnic State University. He was born on January 17, 1954 ( He is age 66 years old as of 2019.) But none are quite as good as Crane. Jim Crane is set to become the new owner of the Houston Astros — and the parties involved might even get around to officially announcing it someday. [16], When Crane purchased the team, they were coming off a season in which they won only 56 games. And he did it traveling in a much different manner than he does these days, driving from Kansas City with that trailer. Racked with grief, Crane seriously considered staying in St. Louis (where he grew up and his family lived) and not returning to college. 5). Crane is still a proud Mule (UCM's mascot), who is certainly aware that Bill Clinton said of his school, "This campus is a place that is creating the possibilities of the future" at a commencement address earlier this month. But even many longtime Houstonians don't have much of a read on Jim Crane. [8][9], Eagle USA Airfreight later became Eagle Global Logistics, and then EGL, Inc., and moved into the supply chain management and information services business. [7] His father died between his freshman and sophomore years, and Crane seriously thought about dropping out of college; however, his coach, Robert N. Tompkins, drove to his home in north St. Louis and talked Crane into returning to school. [32][33], During the Memorial Day weekend in 2017, Crane married Whitney Wheeler, now Whitney Crane. Crane is chairman and chief executive of Crane Capital Group, Crane Worldwide Logistics, and Crane Freight & Shipping. Here are 10 things you probably don't know about the soon-to-be new owner of the Houston Astros: 1). He and Wheeler have a son together, James Robert Crane II.