The 81-year-old American billionaire John Poindexter, who has no wife and children has decided to spend all the fortune he built over four decades on a town in Texas that barely exists. Poindexter, a Houston manufacturing magnate, is betting on a super small town in West Texas. Shafter, Texas, is a ghost town in a county that just keeps getting emptier.
In 2025, Presidio County had an estimated 5,433 residents which is 11.4% down since 2020 and down from 7,818 in 2010, Census Bureau data shows. The median household income is $43,802, which is about half the US median income and nearly one in five residents live in poverty. The area has a very low population density, with about 1.6 people per square mile.
"I've never been married, I have no children," John Poindexter told the Times when asked why his money won't be given away to his family. That’s a different approach from Warren Buffett, who has directed his $140 billion wealth to four of his family’s foundations so they can choose how to spend it.
According to IRS filings compiled by ProPublica, since late 2020, his Tidewater and Big Bend Foundation has received nearly $67 million in contributions, including $20.6 million in the year to November 2024. The assets was reported to be around $62.5 million. The New York Times reported this month that the foundation will eventually own all of his properties. This includes Cibolo Creek Ranch, a 30,000-acre resort south of Marfa. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died there in 2016.
What is John Poindexter's plan for Shafter?
The foundation’s main project is Shafter, a former silver-mining town with about 25 residents, according to the Big Bend Sentinel. According to The Times, the plans include a resort and a living history museum. The project will feature a rebuilt saloon, general store and post office. About a dozen adobe homes will also be available for overnight stays. John Poindexter’s foundation will eventually own all of his properties, the Times reported, including the 30,000-acre Cibolo Creek Ranch where Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016.
