A former owner of two NBA teams, an NFL franchise and longtime Texas businessman, Billy Joe “Red” McCombs has died at his home in San Antonio, according to a statement from his family Monday.
McCombs was 95 and preceded in death by his wife, Charline, in 2019.
He owned more than 400 businesses during his lifetime, according to the McCombs Enterprises website, and the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin is named for him. He twice owned the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, once owned the Denver Nuggets and later, the Minnesota Vikings of the NFL.
According to an Oct. 2022 article by The Colorado Sun, McCombs spent 36 years trying to develop a 300-acre property atop Wolf Creek Pass in the Rio Grande National Forest north of Pagosa Springs. The property is adjacent to Wolf Creek Ski Area.
A federal judge blocked the latest Forest Service approval for an access road to the private land last October.
