The Partnership Behind Kelcy Warren’s Energy Transfer

Kelcy Warren did not build Energy Transfer alone. The company traces its roots to a partnership formed after Warren helped find a buyer for Endevco, the pipeline and refining company where he worked after leaving Lone Star Gas Co. During that process he met investors Ray C. Davis and Ben Cook, and the three ended up buying Endevco together instead of simply selling it to someone else. That decision turned out to shape the rest of Warren’s career.

From One Deal to a New Company

After rebranding Endevco and selling it again for a larger profit, Warren, Davis and Cook used much of that money to launch Energy Transfer in 1996. The company started small, with roughly 200 miles of natural gas pipelines in East Texas, a fraction of the scale it would eventually reach under Kelcy Warren’s leadership decades later.

The partnership worked because the two founders brought different strengths to the table. Davis, who later became owner of the Texas Rangers, handled much of the day to day business side, while Warren focused on long term growth and the possibility of building the largest pipeline and export network on the continent. Ben Cook rounded out the group, and together the three built the foundation for a company that would eventually stretch far beyond its East Texas origins.

A Visionary Reputation

Davis summed up that dynamic in a past interview with the Houston Chronicle, saying of his former partner, “Kelcy Warren doesn’t think like other people. He sees possibilities where others don’t.” That reputation has followed Kelcy Warren through decades of acquisitions, from the aftermath of the Enron collapse to the $7.1 billion purchase of Crestwood Equity Partners in recent years, and it continues to shape how the company evaluates new deals today. Visit this page for additional information.

More about Kelcy Warren on https://www.energytransfer.com/leadership/

Kelcy Warren did not build Energy Transfer alone. The company traces its roots to a partnership formed after Warren helped find a buyer for Endevco, the pipeline and refining company where he worked after leaving Lone Star Gas Co. During that process he met investors Ray C. Davis and Ben Cook, and the three ended…