or the first time in 15 years, oilman Paul Rudnicki was trying to adjust to not being a workaholic. It was 2017 and Rudnicki was living with his family in Santa Barbara in a dream home overlooking the Pacific. He had made a break with the oil industry — having recently been forced out of his job as CFO at Dallas-based Thompson Petroleum Company.
It was a big bonus, but in a later deposition Rudnicki insisted that he had neither demanded nor expected it. So he was surprised in early 2018 to read allegations made by the Thompsons in their complaint, filed in Dallas County District Court, that he and Peterman had “breached their fiduciary duties by using fear, threats and intimidation” to get bonuses that were really extortion payments.
In 2011 they hired Frank Peterman, who had previously worked for Houston-based HighMount E&P . He brought in as CFO, Paul Rudnicki, who had spent more than a decade in business development at Exco Resources, participating in the early “land grab” phase of the great American oil and gas fracking boom. At Thompson Petroleum they found a moribund office that looked straight out of the 1970s, with paper files, weak accounting systems and no plan to develop Jimmie’s disparate legacy assets.
“I want to say, and I think I have told you before, but I truly believe that Jimmy looked down from heaven and found you for us to keep going in the direction we have gone. You are a blessing to us and we are so grateful that we found you when we did. You were so needed, both then and now! . . . Thank you, Frank, you are truly appreciated and we are grateful for you.”
It was unclear how much liability the Thompsons really had – after all, other partners had absorbed Pickens’ stake — but the family was scared of Pickens. In an October 14, 2016 email, Dorothy wrote to Linda, “I know the bible says, we are not to hate, but I do hate Boone, the big SOB! […] If Jimmie were here Boone never would have gone up against us.” Linda responded: “I don’t think we owe that old SOB, fart one penny.
As Peterman’s attorneys wrote in their motion, “There was no payor’s remorse about the bonuses. To the contrary, there was elation all around.” The joy was compunded by the final outcome of the Boone Pickens trial, held in rural Reeves County. Pickens in December 2017 won damages of $117 million against the other partners in Red Bull, but the Thompsons avoided all financial liability. Pickens, who suffered a stroke during the trial, died in 2019 at 91.
The oil and gas industry is ruthless.
Forbes...why am I obsolete...my accomplishments..that is?
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