Background
Liedtke was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma where his father was an attorney for the Gulf Oil Corporation.
petroleum executive founder of Pennzoil
Liedtke was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma where his father was an attorney for the Gulf Oil Corporation.
They met on Saipan and agree to pursue a business career together if they survived the war. Liedtke earned a Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College in 1945 and an Bachelor of Laws from University of Texas School of Law in 1949. He moved to Midland, Texas, then opened a law practice with Hugh in 1949.
In the 1950s, Hugh and Bill Liedtke had an office next to that of the Bush-Overbey Oil Development Company run by future United States President George H. West. Bush and Bush"s neighbor, John Overby.
In 1950s, the Liedtke"s, Bush, and Overby formed the Zapata Petroleum Corporation. Zapata eventually merged with Pennzoil, and the Liedtkes took over United Gas Pipeline in 1956.
Liedtke served as the president of Pennzoil from 1967 to 1977. In 1977, he left Pennzoil to lead the company"s spin-off Pogo Producing Company.
Previously known as Pennzoil Offshore Gas Operators at its IPO in 1970, Pogo was an exploration and production subsidiary of Pennzoil set up to look for natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico.
Liedtke served as the chairman, director, Chief Executive Officer and president of Pogo until his retirement in 1991. Liedtke became the Texas finance chairman for Richard Nixon"s Presidential campaigns in 1968 and 1972. In September 1972, columnist Jack Anderson obtained a report compiled by the House Banking Committee indicating that Liedtke admitted to investigators that he had raised $100,000 in Mexico for Nixon"s campaign fund.
Liedtke later served on the Board of Trustees for Amherst College.
He also served as finance chair for the Bush-Quayle campaign of 1988.