Harold Hamm

Harold Glenn Hamm (born December 11, 1945) is an American entrepreneur primarily involved in the oil and gas business who is best known for pioneering the development of the large shale oil resources of the Bakken formation. On June 24, 2016, Hamm was ranked by Forbes magazine as the 39th richest person in United States and 98th richest person in the world, with a net worth estimated at $11.3 billion. Hamm's net worth peaked at $18.7 billion in September 2014, but decreased to $9.3 billion by 2015. In 2012, presidential candidate Mitt Romney named Hamm as his energy advisor and thereafter Hamm made substantial monetary and advisory contributions to the election effort. 2Early life Hamm was born in Lexington, Oklahoma, the 13th and youngest child of Oklahoma cotton sharecroppers, Jane Elizabeth (née Sparks) and Leland Albert Hamm. 2Career Hamm is a key player in Hiland Partners and Hiland Holdings as well as the shale oil-exploration company Continental Resources, Oklahoma's fourth largest public company. Continental Resources moved from the Continental Towers in Enid, Oklahoma, to Oklahoma City in 2012. Hamm was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2011. Hamm worked his way up from pumping gas and repairing cars to becoming CEO of his own billion-dollar company. He has been the CEO of Continental Resources since 1967, when the company was called Shelly Dean Oil Compan