Inside Hunt Companies: From Military Housing to $37B Holding Company with Woody Hunt (#433)
In this episode, Chris sits down with Woody Hunt, Chairman Emeritus of Hunt Companies, the El Paso holding company that grew out of a hardware and building materials business his family bought in 1947.
Woody joined in 1968 and watched his father take the company public when he was 23. Five years later, fixed-price contracts in a year of runaway inflation cost it about 25% of its equity, and by 1977 he was the controlling shareholder. When the next big shock came in 2008, Hunt had been building cash for five years.
As a fellow El Pasoan, Chris has followed Woody's journey for years. They get into what each of those moments taught Woody about scaling, risk, liquidity, leading boards, and building a company that doesn't depend on him.
They discuss:
• The Friday a buyer walked away from a $250 million deal
• How deflation in 2008 made his construction backlog more profitable
• What has to be true before he buys a company
• Why he sold a profitable company that needed 10,000 employees
• Why a business shouldn't be tied to its owner's life cycle
• What separates an exceptional board from a weak one
• Why he's careful about who he asks questions
• Why he wants El Paso to welcome data centers
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(01:05) How Hunt Grew from a $50,000 Hardware Store
(07:18) Going Public at 23 and Breaking Into Military Housing
(14:11) How Inflation Wiped Out 25% of Hunt's Equity in 1974
(18:44) The 1977 Buyback and the Pivot to Niche Housing
(25:08) How Hunt Won 60% of the Military Housing Market
(32:37) Military Housing Goes from $500 Million to $10 Billion a Year
(36:33) How Hunt Came Out of 2008 with Record Cash
(41:34) Why Hunt Diversified as Military Housing Ran Out
(48:39) What Has to Be True to Buy or Sell a Company
(54:21) Why a Business Shouldn't Be Tied to the Owner's Life Cycle
(59:19) What Separates an Exceptional Board from a Weak One
(1:05:44) Why Raising Third-Party Capital Is Hunt's Hardest Challenge
(1:10:07) How to Spot a High-Functioning Board in One Meeting
(1:13:53) Why a Controlling Shareholder Has to Be Careful What He Asks
(1:19:39) Why Woody Checks Liquidity Every Day
(1:21:55) Why El Paso Shouldn't Push Data Centers Away
(1:26:36) The Long-Term Pitch for El Paso
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