Here are five things to know about Ray Davis, the Texas Rangers’ behind-the-scenes owner who purchased the franchise in 2010.
1. The basics
Name: Ray C. Davis
Born: Oct. 15, 1941
Hometown: Overton, Texas
2. Day job
Davis made his money working in the energy industry for over forty years. He served as the CEO and chairman for Energy Transfer Partners and chairman of Energy Transfer Equity. He retired in 2007 with a net worth of $1 billion. Three years later he’d help back the purchase of the Texas Rangers.
3. Saves the day
Davis helped pull the Rangers franchise out of bankruptcy in 2010 when he teamed up with Bob Simpson and a group led by Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan to buy the Rangers. Davis and Simpson footed the majority of the club’s $593 million sale price.
4. ‘No Jerry Jones’
Despite that fact, Davis and Simpson have largely remained in the background of the goings-on with the Rangers.
Former Rangers writer Gil LeBreton once wrote, “There’s no Jerry [Jones] in Ray Davis.”
Davis has been described as “reclusive” and rarely grants interviews. In fact, many Rangers fans probably didn’t even know what he looked like until the 2022 season, when Davis “came out of his cave” to announce the Rangers’ massive shift in management when GM Jon Daniels and manager Chris Woodward were dismissed two days apart that August.
5. Top of the mountain
Davis is the franchise’s first and only owner to win a World Series with the team, and it was largely thanks to the huge contracts Davis signed off on for middle-infield stars Corey Seager and Marcus Semien.
When the Rangers clinched the title in Arizona, Davis was there to celebrate and lift the trophy with GM Chris Young.
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