Haute 100 San Francisco Update: Steve Jr. & Riley Bechtel

Our Haute 100 list details the accomplishments of the most influential people in each of our markets—Miami, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. These people continue to make moves, so rather than waiting for the next Haute 100 issue to come out, we thought we’d provide you with regular updates on those Haute 100 members who are making headlines. Bigger, faster, stronger, Bechtel Corp. hurls forward with hundreds of one-of-a-kind megaprojects in engineering and construction worldwide; And sitting at the top of the premier engineering, construction, and project management company with a net worth of $3 billion is chairman and CEO Riley Bechtel, son of former chairman and CEO, Steve Jr. who is believed to own 20 percent of the company.

Steve Jr. & Riley Bechtel

Category: Billionaires

Company: Bechtel Corp.

Industry: Engineering

What Made Him Haute: The Bechtel family name can be linked to some of the greatest man-made projects of the century. (Think the Hoover Dam, the largest civil engineering project in U.S. history.) Currently, Riley Bechtel is leading the multibillion-dollar corporation as the chief executive, while his father Steve Bechtel Jr. serves as the chairman emeritus, a partnership tradition established a generation before between Steve Sr. and son. Notable projects that have the Bechtel stamp include the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, a project that set new standards for commuter rail systems; the Channel Tunnel, connecting England and France beneath the English Channel; and the Hong Kong International Airport.

What Makes Them Haute Now: At any given time, Bechtel Corp. is undertaking hundreds of the world’s first, largest, and most challenging projects. Mastering them all are Steve Jr. and Riley Bechtel; men of many trades who were never afraid to get their hands dirty, despite their moneyed pedigree. From preliminary engineering to full-on construction of power plants, refineries, smelters, roads, and airports, the well-rounded duo is changing the face of the globe, transforming everything Bechtel Corp. touches.

Bechtel Corporation’s newest projects include:

• Engineering for the gas mainline portion of Denali – The Alaska Pipeline, delivering natural gas from Alaska’s North Slope to markets in Canada and the United States.
• Working with Cheniere Energy Partners L.P. on the design and construction of a natural gas liquefaction facility.
• Joint-venturing with Turkey’s Enka to build a four-lane highway that will serve as a centerpiece of Kosovo’s national transportation system.
• Providing engineering, construction, and project management services for a 1,400-megawatt electric generating station in Libya.
• Undertaking the first power project in Russia.
• Providing services for a new liquefied natural gas processing plant in Australia.
• Providing its engineering, construction, and project managements services for the modernization of an aluminum smelter in British Columbia.

Other ongoing projects include:

• Partnering with BrightSource Energy to build the Ivanpah Solar Power Complex in California’s Mojave Desert – the world’s largest solar thermal facility.
• Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia – the biggest civil engineering project in modern times.
• Romanian Motorway – the biggest highway project now under construction in Europe.
• Port Arthur Expansion – the first oil refinery in Texas, on its way to becoming the largest in the United States.
• Port Waratah Coal Services – the largest coal operation in the world; Keystone Pipeline – one of the world’s longest oil pipelines.
• New Doha International Airport – the gateway to the world.

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