Peter Holt
Encyclopedia
Peter M. Holt is a businessman. He is the CEO of Holt Cat, the largest Caterpillar
dealership in the United States
and chairman, CEO, and owner of Spurs Sports & Entertainment, which owns the 4-time NBA
champion San Antonio Spurs
, the
WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars
, the AHL's
San Antonio Rampage
, and the NBA Development League
's Austin Toros
.
, who developed the first practical track-type tractor 100 years ago. The Holt family’s history in San Antonio, Texas
began in 1933, when Peter’s great uncle, William K. "Bill" Holt, moved to San Antonio to start a Caterpillar
dealership. He had no heirs, so Bill invited B.D. Holt (Peter’s father) to get involved in the business. In 1961, B.D. Holt moved to Corpus Christi, Texas
and started his own Caterpillar dealership.
Peter Holt, a Peoria, Illinois
native, lived in San Antonio as a child before moving to Corpus Christi. After high school in Corpus Christi, Peter Holt went into the United States Army
, serving two years, including a one-year tour of duty as an infantryman in Vietnam
. He ended his military duty as a Sergeant (E5
) with a Silver Star
and three Bronze Stars for Valor and a Purple Heart
for wounds received.
Upon returning to the United States, Holt went to California
, working for an investment banking house and became involved in a bar and restaurant business. Holt rejoined his father in the Holt Companies in 1983 in Corpus Christi. As president and CEO, Holt implemented a strategy to diversify the company’s markets, taking it from one of the smallest Caterpillar dealerships to the largest one in the country today. In September 1987, Peter and his father purchased Holt Machinery Co., in San Antonio, reuniting the original Caterpillar dealership that Bill Holt started in 1933. Holt would later expand the company's Texas presence by purchasing Darr Equipment Company of Dallas, the Caterpillar dealer for the DFW Metroplex.
Not one for formalities and pretense, he set up offices in a San Antonio corporate headquarters building made of metal corrugated siding and dubbed "The Barn."
. His desire was to keep the team in San Antonio to help the community and vice-versa. He and his wife Julianna Hawn Holt are now the franchise’s principal owners.
Holt and the Spurs later purchased other franchises – the Austin Toros
of the NBA Development League
, the San Antonio Rampage
of the American Hockey League
, and the renamed San Antonio Silver Stars
of the WNBA. In each case, the team colors were changed to silver and black, the motif used by the Spurs.
In the last several years, Holt has seen his "community project" succeed in extraordinary ways. In June 1999, Holt joined with hundreds of thousands of Spurs
faithful in celebrating the team’s first NBA Championship. In order to keep the team in San Antonio, Holt led a successful effort to secure community support to build a new community arena, the AT&T Center
. The new home to the Spurs
and the San Antonio
Livestock Exposition broke ground in August 2000 and opened with the 2002 season. Holt's Spurs secured three more championships in 2003, 2005, and 2007. He is one of the few owners in the league that has not gone over the luxury tax
threshold to secure needed talent.
Keeping consistent with his desire to see the Spurs organization lead in the community, Holt has mandated that the Spurs have the first Green facilities in American professional sports http://48minutesofhell.blogspot.com/2008/11/next-new-model.html.
With a long commitment to community service, Holt served as Chairman of the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County. He is a member of the World Presidents’ Organization, and is a trustee of the Palmer Drug Abuse Program. He also served as Chairman of the Board of St. Mary’s Hall
, a private school in San Antonio
.
A frequent contributor to the Republican Party http://www.campaignmoney.com/finance.asp?type=in&cycle=10&criteria=Holt&fname=Peter, Holt has contributed over $500,000 to the campaigns of Governor Rick Perry
http://info.tpj.org/reports/pdf/Perry%20Patronage2010.pdf, who appointed Holt as a commissioner of the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife. A strong supporter of international trade, Holt is a board member of Free Trade Alliance-San Antonio, as well as the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation and Chase Bank-San Antonio.
Holt plans on staying in San Antonio
, and active in the Caterpillar business, looking forward to the possibility of welcoming his children into the family business.
Peter Holt was inducted to the Texas
Business Hall of Fame in 2004 and information in this article was obtained from a short biography listed on their website http://www.texasbusiness.org.
taxpayers paid the entire $258 million (in 2006 dollars) cost of construction for the Alamodome
which was completed in 1993. In 1999 a referendum was placed on the ballot for a second arena. This ballot measure passed. Taxpayers contributed $175 million, while the Spurs added $28.5 million, to the SBC Center (now the AT&T Center
)http://www.ntu.org/ntuf/stadiums-and-subsidies-strike-out-for-taxpayers.html. In 2011 the Spurs were ranked the 9th most valuable NBA franchise, worth an estimated $404 millionhttp://www.forbes.com/lists/2011/32/basketball-valuations-11_land.html.
Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc. , also known as "CAT", designs, manufactures, markets and sells machinery and engines and sells financial products and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network. Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas...
dealership in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and chairman, CEO, and owner of Spurs Sports & Entertainment, which owns the 4-time NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
champion San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
, the
WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars
San Antonio Silver Stars
The San Antonio Silver Stars are a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah before the league's inaugural 1997 season began; the team moved to San Antonio...
, the AHL's
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...
San Antonio Rampage
San Antonio Rampage
The San Antonio Rampage are an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League based in San Antonio, Texas. They are the top affiliate of the Florida Panthers of the NHL. Their home arena is the AT&T Center.-History:...
, and the NBA Development League
NBA Development League
The NBA Development League, or NBA D-League, is the National Basketball Association's official minor league basketball organization. Known until summer 2005 as the National Basketball Development League , the NBA D-League started with eight teams in the fall of 2001...
's Austin Toros
Austin Toros
The Austin Toros are a NBA Development League minor league basketball team based in Cedar Park, Texas, United States.The team plays home games at Cedar Park Center.Their logo is the design of a bull and basketball with the state of Texas in the background...
.
Life
Peter Holt is the great-grandson of Benjamin HoltBenjamin Holt
Benjamin Leroy Holt was an American inventor who was the first to patent and manufacture a first practical crawler-type tread tractor. The continuous-type track is used for heavy agricultural and engineering vehicles to spread the weight over a large area to prevent the vehicle from sinking into...
, who developed the first practical track-type tractor 100 years ago. The Holt family’s history in San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
began in 1933, when Peter’s great uncle, William K. "Bill" Holt, moved to San Antonio to start a Caterpillar
Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc. , also known as "CAT", designs, manufactures, markets and sells machinery and engines and sells financial products and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network. Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas...
dealership. He had no heirs, so Bill invited B.D. Holt (Peter’s father) to get involved in the business. In 1961, B.D. Holt moved to Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
and started his own Caterpillar dealership.
Peter Holt, a Peoria, Illinois
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
native, lived in San Antonio as a child before moving to Corpus Christi. After high school in Corpus Christi, Peter Holt went into the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, serving two years, including a one-year tour of duty as an infantryman in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. He ended his military duty as a Sergeant (E5
Enlisted rank
An enlisted rank is, in most Militaries, any rank below a commissioned officer or warrant officer. The term can also be inclusive of non-commissioned officers...
) with a Silver Star
Silver Star
The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
and three Bronze Stars for Valor and a Purple Heart
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
for wounds received.
Upon returning to the United States, Holt went to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, working for an investment banking house and became involved in a bar and restaurant business. Holt rejoined his father in the Holt Companies in 1983 in Corpus Christi. As president and CEO, Holt implemented a strategy to diversify the company’s markets, taking it from one of the smallest Caterpillar dealerships to the largest one in the country today. In September 1987, Peter and his father purchased Holt Machinery Co., in San Antonio, reuniting the original Caterpillar dealership that Bill Holt started in 1933. Holt would later expand the company's Texas presence by purchasing Darr Equipment Company of Dallas, the Caterpillar dealer for the DFW Metroplex.
Not one for formalities and pretense, he set up offices in a San Antonio corporate headquarters building made of metal corrugated siding and dubbed "The Barn."
Business and the Spurs
Holt believes in a values-based management philosophy, in which the community gains benefits from association with a company that is committed to proper business ethics. A company's responsibility leads to the company supporting community projects, leading to mutual benefit for the community and company. These values were one of the primary factors in Holt's 1993 decision to invest in the SpursSan Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
. His desire was to keep the team in San Antonio to help the community and vice-versa. He and his wife Julianna Hawn Holt are now the franchise’s principal owners.
Holt and the Spurs later purchased other franchises – the Austin Toros
Austin Toros
The Austin Toros are a NBA Development League minor league basketball team based in Cedar Park, Texas, United States.The team plays home games at Cedar Park Center.Their logo is the design of a bull and basketball with the state of Texas in the background...
of the NBA Development League
NBA Development League
The NBA Development League, or NBA D-League, is the National Basketball Association's official minor league basketball organization. Known until summer 2005 as the National Basketball Development League , the NBA D-League started with eight teams in the fall of 2001...
, the San Antonio Rampage
San Antonio Rampage
The San Antonio Rampage are an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League based in San Antonio, Texas. They are the top affiliate of the Florida Panthers of the NHL. Their home arena is the AT&T Center.-History:...
of the American Hockey League
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...
, and the renamed San Antonio Silver Stars
San Antonio Silver Stars
The San Antonio Silver Stars are a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah before the league's inaugural 1997 season began; the team moved to San Antonio...
of the WNBA. In each case, the team colors were changed to silver and black, the motif used by the Spurs.
In the last several years, Holt has seen his "community project" succeed in extraordinary ways. In June 1999, Holt joined with hundreds of thousands of Spurs
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
faithful in celebrating the team’s first NBA Championship. In order to keep the team in San Antonio, Holt led a successful effort to secure community support to build a new community arena, the AT&T Center
AT&T Center
AT&T Center is an indoor arena, located in San Antonio, Texas, USA. It seats 18,581, for basketball , 13,800, for ice hockey and 19,000, for concerts or religious gatherings and contains 2,018 club seats, 50 luxury suites and 32 bathrooms .It was completed in 2002, as the SBC...
. The new home to the Spurs
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
and the San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
Livestock Exposition broke ground in August 2000 and opened with the 2002 season. Holt's Spurs secured three more championships in 2003, 2005, and 2007. He is one of the few owners in the league that has not gone over the luxury tax
Luxury tax
A luxury tax is a tax on luxury goods: products not considered essential. A luxury tax may be modeled after a sales tax or VAT, charged as a percentage on all items of particular classes, except that it mainly affects the wealthy because the wealthy are the most likely to buy luxuries such as...
threshold to secure needed talent.
Keeping consistent with his desire to see the Spurs organization lead in the community, Holt has mandated that the Spurs have the first Green facilities in American professional sports http://48minutesofhell.blogspot.com/2008/11/next-new-model.html.
With a long commitment to community service, Holt served as Chairman of the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County. He is a member of the World Presidents’ Organization, and is a trustee of the Palmer Drug Abuse Program. He also served as Chairman of the Board of St. Mary’s Hall
St. Mary’s Hall
-External links:*...
, a private school in San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
.
A frequent contributor to the Republican Party http://www.campaignmoney.com/finance.asp?type=in&cycle=10&criteria=Holt&fname=Peter, Holt has contributed over $500,000 to the campaigns of Governor Rick Perry
Rick Perry
James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...
http://info.tpj.org/reports/pdf/Perry%20Patronage2010.pdf, who appointed Holt as a commissioner of the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife. A strong supporter of international trade, Holt is a board member of Free Trade Alliance-San Antonio, as well as the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation and Chase Bank-San Antonio.
Holt plans on staying in San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
, and active in the Caterpillar business, looking forward to the possibility of welcoming his children into the family business.
Peter Holt was inducted to the Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
Business Hall of Fame in 2004 and information in this article was obtained from a short biography listed on their website http://www.texasbusiness.org.
Arena Funding and Taxpayer Subsidies
San AntonioSan Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
taxpayers paid the entire $258 million (in 2006 dollars) cost of construction for the Alamodome
Alamodome
The Alamodome is a domed 65,000 seat, multi-purpose facility that is primarily used as a football/basketball stadium and convention center in San Antonio, Texas, U.S...
which was completed in 1993. In 1999 a referendum was placed on the ballot for a second arena. This ballot measure passed. Taxpayers contributed $175 million, while the Spurs added $28.5 million, to the SBC Center (now the AT&T Center
AT&T Center
AT&T Center is an indoor arena, located in San Antonio, Texas, USA. It seats 18,581, for basketball , 13,800, for ice hockey and 19,000, for concerts or religious gatherings and contains 2,018 club seats, 50 luxury suites and 32 bathrooms .It was completed in 2002, as the SBC...
)http://www.ntu.org/ntuf/stadiums-and-subsidies-strike-out-for-taxpayers.html. In 2011 the Spurs were ranked the 9th most valuable NBA franchise, worth an estimated $404 millionhttp://www.forbes.com/lists/2011/32/basketball-valuations-11_land.html.