Preston Marshall

Industry: Oil & Gas
Primary Company: Rusk Energy Corporation/Rusk Capital Management, Koch Industries (via inheritance)
Age: Born ~1973
Location: Houston, Texas
Estimated Worth: Unconfirmed

Background

Preston Landon Marshall is a former board member of the Cato Institute. He was appointed to the Cato board in 2012 with the support of Charles and David Koch, both major funders of the organization. At the time of his appointment, Cato identified Marshall as president of MarOpCo Inc.¹ ² ³

The Institute for Energy Research (IER) listed Preston Marshall as a board member as of 2024.⁴ Marshall’s since-removed LinkedIn profile listed him as the chairman of the board since July 2000⁵

Preston Marshall is the son of the late petroleum industry executive Everett (E.) Pierce Marshall Sr. and Elaine Marshall, brother of E. Pierce Marshall Jr., and grandson of the late billionaire oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, who was a shareholder in Koch Industries.⁶

In 2014, Forbes estimated the net worth of Elaine Marshall and her family as $8.8 billion.⁷

According to his since-removed LinkedIn profile, Marshall has been CEO of the Rusk Energy Corporation since 2015, and CEO of Rusk Capital Management since 2014. From 1996 to 2015, Marshall was executive vice president and CEO of Marshall Petroleum Inc.(MPI). Marshall was a Capgemini management consultant from June 2000 to July 2001, and a management consultant at EY from December 1996 to June 2000.⁸

MPI, later renamed Trof Inc., held the Marshall family’s Koch Industries stock.⁹

Funding

Political Spending

Below is a partial summary/snapshot of Preston Marshall’s political spending, via campaign finance data exported from the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Note that while efforts are made to ensure the accuracy of this data, errors may have been introduced in the original finance records.

Koch Events

June 2010

Preston Marshall, Elaine Marshall, and E. Pierce Marshall Jr. attended the June 2010 meeting of the Koch network in Aspen, Colorado. A list of attendees and a schedule for the Aspen summit was obtained by ThinkProgress.¹⁰

Affiliations

Institute for Energy Research (IER) — Board chair (since July 2000).¹¹
Bill of Rights Institute — Board member (June 2012–unknown).¹²“Preston M.“ LinkedIn. Accessed January 11, 2024.¹³
Cato Institute — Board member (February 2012–November 2018).¹⁴ At the time of his appointment, Cato identified Marshall as president of MarOpCo Inc.¹⁵
The Kinkaid School — Member, board of trustees (2014–2017).¹⁶
Rusk Energy Corporation — Chief executive officer (2015–unknown).¹⁷
Rusk Capital Management — Chief executive officer (2014–unknown).¹⁸
Marshall Petroleum, Inc. — Executive vice president and chief operating officer (February 1996–June 2015).¹⁹
U.S.-Russia Chamber of Commerce — Board member (June 2012–unknown).²⁰

Other Resources

“E. Pierce Marshall” on Wikipedia
“J. Howard Marshall II” on Wikipedia
“J. Howard Marshall III” on Wikipedia
“Elaine Tettemer Marshall” on Wikipedia

Resources

1
(Press release). “Cato Institute Welcomes New CEO, Announces Change to Board,“ Cato Institute, October 1, 2012. Archived July 20, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/vWVKO
2
Brian Rogers. “Houston ex-board member of libertarian Cato Institute on trial accused of beating wife,” Houston Chronicle, November 12, 2018. Archived November 13, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/hTANC
3
Brian Rogers. “Houston tycoon’s grandson not guilty of head-butting, biting wife,” Houston Chronicle, November 14, 2018. Archived January 16, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/mViEn
4
“Who We Are,” Institute for Energy Research. Archived August 8, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/FW2sw
5
.“Preston M.“ LinkedIn. Accessed July 20, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
6
Daniel Fisher. “The Oilman, The Playmate, And The Tangled Affairs Of The Billionaire Marshall Family,” Forbes, March 4, 2013. Archived July 20, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/K9ZA5
7
“#147 Elaine Marshall & family,” Forbes. March 3, 2014. Archived July 20, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/fVkEC
8
“Preston M.“ LinkedIn. Accessed July 20, 2019.
9
Daniel Fisher. “The Oilman, The Playmate, And The Tangled Affairs Of The Billionaire Marshall Family,” Forbes, March 4, 2013. Archived July 20, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/K9ZA5
10
“MEMO: Health Insurance, Banking, Oil Industries Met With Koch, Chamber, Glenn Beck To Plot 2010 Election,” ThinkProgress, October 20, 2010. Archived July 10, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/KUNp3
11
“Preston M.“ LinkedIn. Accessed July 20, 2019.
12
13
14
“Preston M.“ LinkedIn. Accessed January 11, 2024.
15
(Press release). “Cato Institute Welcomes New CEO, Announces Change to Board,“ Cato Institute, October 1, 2012. Archived July 20, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/vWVKO
16
“Preston M.“ LinkedIn. Accessed January 11, 2024.
17
“Preston M.“ LinkedIn. Accessed January 11, 2024.
18
“Preston M.“ LinkedIn. Accessed January 11, 2024.
19
“Preston M.“ LinkedIn. Accessed January 11, 2024.
20
“Preston M.“ LinkedIn. Accessed January 11, 2024.

DeSmog

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