The McCombs Legacy

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the transformational gift that inspired generations of Longhorns

“My hope is that this gift will allow the school to be one of the very best in the world, period,” Red McCombs said at the May 11, 2000, announcement of the unprecedented $50 million gift he and his wife, Charline, gave to The University of Texas at Austin’s business school. The largest donation UT had received in its history, the gift not only gave the McCombs School of Business its name — but transformed it.

Because of the donation, the school was able to recruit and retain star-quality faculty members, attract exceptional students, offer scholarships, and instill the school with an ambition to dream big.

The school is honoring the McCombs family for its leadership and vision with celebrations, including a commemoration during the recent McCombs Advisory Council meeting, and will include acknowledgements during winter commencement. During this anniversary year, the school hopes alumni, students, and the UT community will take the opportunity to learn more about this gift, its impact, and its legacy.

Red McCombs was always grateful for his educational experience and wanted others to have the same opportunity. “I could never have had the access that I’ve had and to get in the position to do the things that I’ve done without The University of Texas,” he said.

A Legend in Texas Business

Red McCombs attended UT Austin in the late 1940s as a business administration student and went on to become a Texas business legend. He is a recipient of the UT Austin Distinguished Alumnus Award and a member of the Texas Business Hall of Fame. His wide-ranging business interests include automobile dealerships, communications, professional sports, oil, ranching, and real estate. He co-founded (with Lowry Mays) Clear Channel Communications, which includes ownership of 850 radio stations in markets across the U.S., and other communications ventures.

The Magic of Sports

Although he got a football scholarship to Southwestern University, it wasn’t playing sports that thrilled him to his core; it was owning the team, especially a winning one. McCombs was selling cars in his mid-20s when he and a friend bought the Corpus Christi Aces, a minor league baseball team. They renamed the team the Clippers, the team won the playoffs, and McCombs was hooked. In 1973, he bought the Dallas Chaparrals basketball team, moved it to San Antonio, and renamed the team the Spurs. He also bought the Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Vikings. The National Football League named him one of its most influential owners. In 2010, he was drawn to a different kind of sport, Formula One auto racing, which he brought to Austin.

Driven to Serve

McCombs is as well known for his philanthropic generosity as he is for his business acumen. He has focused his giving on athletics, education, health care, and humanitarian efforts, including a generous donation to the medical relief effort for Kosovar refugees. In 1997, he gave UT Austin women’s athletics its largest-ever donation — $3 million for a new softball complex named the Red and Charline McCombs Field. A statue of McCombs stands inside UT’s Royal-Memorial Stadium, part of the Red McCombs Red Zone. He also has made significant donations to Southwestern University and to the University of Minnesota Women’s Athletics Department. In addition, he also has donated his time, reading to students at San Antonio’s Mary Hull Elementary School, which is attended by many at-risk students.

Legacy of a Lifetime

In the late 1990s, Bob May, dean of the business school under Larry Faulkner’s presidency, began a correspondence with Red McCombs. May invited McCombs to speak to students at the business school, an encounter that left McCombs “glowing,” according to May. Not long after, McCombs made his unparalleled, unrestricted $50 million gift. “He believes passionately in his community and in Texas,” Faulkner said. “He believes it can succeed at a better level, and he’s looking for a way to get it to do that.”

Building on a Foundation of Leadership

“I believe strongly in the quality of leadership at The University of Texas, or I wouldn’t be making this gift,” McCombs said about his donation to the business school in 2000. “I decided to make this gift now because the timing is right — both for me and for UT. The Texas Business School is already a great school. That’s an indisputable fact, and the national rankings confirm it.”

This article appeared in the winter 2020 issue of McCombs magazine. Click on the link to see the full issue.