{"id":433195,"date":"2025-12-08T12:09:44","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T12:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/433195\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T12:09:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T12:09:44","slug":"from-teen-dj-to-dallas-titan-who-remade-the-soft-drink-industry-in-his-image","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/433195\/","title":{"rendered":"From teen DJ to Dallas titan who remade the soft-drink industry in his image"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thomas O. Hicks, a man of multiple career milestones<\/a>,was a central figure in putting his native city on the map, helping Dallas evolve into the magnet for new businesses and residents it is today.<\/p>\n

The former teenage disc jockey<\/a> with a self-professed fondness for the Bee Gees, who then became one of the definitive movers and shakers of high finance \u2014 passed away on Saturday. <\/p>\n

The University of Texas and University of Southern California grad established a Texas Business Hall of Fame<\/a>-winning career that included ownership stakes in the Dallas Stars, the Texas Rangers and Liverpool Soccer Club. <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/p>\n

Together with former business partner Bobby Haas \u2014 his former business partner who was content to retreat into relative obscurity<\/a> before his passing in September 2021 \u2014 Hicks used the alchemy of leveraged buyouts to spin the soft drink market into gold \u2014 which he then used to invest in and promote his hometown professional sports teams.<\/p>\n

Business Briefing<\/p>\n

Become a business insider with the latest news.<\/p>\n

By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Back in 1984, Hicks and Haas formed their eponymous firm with a nominal investment. Within four years, the duo took an equity investment worth $55 million in soft drink company Dr. Pepper and 7Up, converting it into a payday worth over $1 billion. <\/p>\n

The two men \u201cwere the right two people at the right time in the right market,\u201d Hicks told The Dallas Morning News<\/a> in a 2021 interview, speaking about their five-year partnership. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe had unbelievable success. I will always look back at that with fond memories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once Haas departed the business, the re-christened Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst<\/a> firm completed more than $50 billion in leveraged buyouts between its founding year and 2004.<\/p>\n

The role he played in the development of the American Airlines Center, where the Dallas Mavericks currently play, was instrumental in helping cement Uptown as one of the city\u2019s hottest zip codes and a draw for upscale living, billionaire magnate Ross Perot Jr. told The News in an interview on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat partnership we put together in the 90s to build the arena\u2026truly transformed the city,\u201d said Perot, who also chairs the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you look at the arena development, the [Goldman Sachs campus under development<\/a>],and all that activity in uptown, that partnership, we\u2019re still partners, and it survived all these decades, and that was unique,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u2018Buy and build\u2019<\/p>\n

At one juncture, Hicks & Haas commanded of a third of the market segment comprising 7Up, Sprite, ginger ale and other non-cola soft drinks. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t get many opportunities to restructure an entire industry. That\u2019s what happened in 1985 and 1986,\u201d Hicks wrote in a 2010 D Magazine article<\/a>, explaining how \u201ca small Dallas investment firm\u201d simultaneously came to control hometown soft drink company Dr. Pepper, plus 7Up, A&W Root Beer. <\/p>\n

\u201cBobby Haas and I began the firm with a commitment to a few important principles. One of those was to \u2018buy and build\u2019 great companies. We also knew the importance of strong, effective management. At that time, the soft drink industry didn\u2019t necessarily run itself with those strategies and tactics.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Perot, Hicks \u201chad great vision. He\u2019s in all these different industries, all these different companies, but he always let the operating partner, from my experience, he let the operating partner go out there and do their job,\u201d he told The News. <\/p>\n

Hicks was also adept at grabbing headlines for his personal deals. Back in 2013, when he made waves by listing<\/a> his palatial Preston Hollow estate for a bank-breaking $135 million \u2014 at the time the most expensive home on the market, according to Forbes<\/a>. (The more low-key Haas listed his property for a far more modest $25 million<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Eventually, both men pivoted away toward career changes. While Haas leaned into photography and started a museum dedicated to motorcycles, Hicks invested his riches in the professional sports scene, helping to build the Rangers and Stars into championship powerhouses.<\/p>\n

\"Boots<\/a>Fort Worth boot shop lands on \u2018New York Times\u2019 list of top 50 clothing stores in America<\/a><\/p>\n

The Stockyards shop was praised for its boots \u201cin leathers ranging from calf to alligator.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/a>Tom Hicks, former owner of Stars, Rangers, dies at 79<\/a><\/p>\n

Hicks co-founded Hicks & Haas in 1984 and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst in 1989.<\/p>\n

\"BMW<\/a>What data drops Tuesday? Dallas-Fort Worth business datebook for the week of Dec. 7, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Fed interest rates, GameStop earnings and more in the week of North Texas business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thomas O. Hicks, a man of multiple career milestones,was a central figure in putting his native city on…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":433196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,9604,525,60,222,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-433195","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-entrepreneurs","11":"tag-finance","12":"tag-financial-services","13":"tag-sports-business","14":"tag-texas","15":"tag-tx","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115683876944028745","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=433195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}