Billionaire Jeff Hildebrand is more likely to show up in the news for his exploits in exclusive polo clubs across the country or for raising money for Donald Trump and other Republicans than for any of the details on what his company, Hilcorp, has in mind for Alaska.

Hilcorp certainly likes it that way.

Even in Houston his name recognition is such that on April 3 this year, the Houston Chronicle headlined a short profile this way: “Who is little known billionaire Jeffery Hildebrand? What to know about the richest man in Houston.”

Hildebrand, the seventh largest political donor in Texas in 2022, gave nearly $2 million, almost all of it to Republicans. Earlier this year he did a big favor for Elon Musk at public expense, engineering a trade for park land that drew public opposition.

“How did an oil billionaire obtain the authority to make a sweetheart deal with a tech billionaire to decimate a state park? Campaign donations to Gov. Greg Abbott, of course,” wrote Houston columnist Chris Tomlinson.

Over the past two years Hildebrand’s employees warned the Alaska Legislature that any tax increase—including closing the $100 million Hilcorp loophole—would cause the company to spend less in Alaska. The warnings worked, as they always do.

Search for Hildebrand’s name on the internet and you will never find anything about how much money he is making in Alaska, primarily on the North Slope, or how much he is making in Cook Inlet. And the stories about accusations regarding the company’s monopoly of the natural gas market in Southcentral do not connect the dots with the man who owns the operation.

You will find much about his deep political connections in Texas, his philanthropy and even more about his prowess on the polo grounds. He pursues the Sport of Kings with a passion. There is no end to the photos showing Hildebrand hoisting polo trophies.

Hildebrand is the number one player on the Tonkawa polo team. It helps that he is also the owner of the Tonkawa polo team, known in polo lingo as the patron, pronounced “pa-trohn.”

“The suggested cost of putting together a high-goal team to compete during the 16-week winter polo season is rumored to cost a patron between $1-3 million,” Forbes wrote in 2015.

“Patrons are typically amateur polo players who spend the requisite amount of money to field a team and participate in a season of play. They negotiate each player's salary, living expenses, equipment costs and polo ponies, which includes transportation, grooms, vets, trainers and barn fees. Each match requires roughly 8-10 ponies at an average cost of $45,000 per horse. Furthermore, each tournament has an entry fee attached thereto. The price to perform in a polo match is quite steep.”

Patron Hildebrand, who turns 65 this year, is ranked 29th among polo amateurs on the World Polo Tour standings. He is 123th on the combined list of pros and amateurs in the polo universe.

A 2021 profile of the Hilcorp owner by the U.S. Polo Association gushed at the billionaire’s accomplishments on horseback:

“Hailing from Houston, Texas, Hildebrand headlines Tonkawa in the number one position, bringing a depth of experience playing in some of the most prestigious tournaments across the United States,” the polo people said.

“Splitting time between the International Polo Club Palm Beach (Wellington, Florida), Houston Polo Club (Houston, Texas) and Aspen Valley Polo Club (Carbondale, Colorado), Hildebrand has been the driving force of his Tonkawa organization, competing in different levels of polo throughout the year. Always a team to watch in each tournament they enter, Tonkawa captured the 2019 Silver Cup title, along with numerous titles at his home base in Houston, including multiple victories in the H. Ben Taub Memorial, Keleen Carlton Beal Cup and Southwestern Regional Classic.”

Earlier this year, Hildebrand competed on a combined La Dolfina/Tonkawa team that won a polo association Gold Cup in Wellington, Florida.

“We defended really well and Jeff did a good job of pushing the team forward,” fellow team member Tomas Panelo told the Palm Beach Post in late March. Panelo, who is from Argentina, is in 8th place on the World Polo Tour standings.

The Museum of Polo & Hall of Fame said “It was the first major tournament victory for Tonkawa patron Jeff Hildebrand since winning the 2019 Silver Cup and the 2018 Joe Barry Memorial Cup.”

The 2021 polo profile said “Hildebrand has shown consistent improvement year after year, being on the receiving end of more passes and demonstrating a strong ability to move the ball down the field accurately to gain valuable field position for Tonkawa.”

A 2020 team profile said Tonkawa was a “strong contender in the Gauntlet of Polo.”

“The face of the Tonkawa organization, Jeff Hildebrand continually produces exceptional teams year after year at the International Polo Club Palm Beach, while also improving each year as a player in the #1 position. Utilized more frequently as a pass receiver, Hildebrand requires the defence’s attention, adeptly picking up the ball and gaining field position for his team. An impressive addition through three games in 2020 has been Hildebrand’s ability to center the ball in front of goal, collecting two assists which matches his entire total from 2019. Pushing Tonkawa forward each game, Hildebrand is at the forefront of an exciting offense that opposing teams need to be wary of,” the International Polo Club of Palm Beach said.

One of Hildebrand’s properties is a ranch outside of Aspen, once owned by singer John Denver, where the Hilcorp owner built a polo field.

“Hildebrand’s 203-acre estate is ultimately to include the polo grounds, a horse barn, stables, a small ranch office, a ranch manager’s house, a pool house and a 10,300-square-foot residence,” the Aspen Times reported in 2012.

The $1.2 million project required the removal of 60,000 cubic yards of topsoil from 47 rolling acres of hayfields and applying 200,000 cubic yards of material to create the polo field.

The newspaper said that Hildebrand’s representatives applied in 2011 for a permit and said the clearing was to make the site better for agricultural uses.

“That was true, technically, but less than completely candid,” the newspaper said.

Lance Clarke, the assistant director of community development for Pitkin County, said, “They never mentioned it was for a polo field.”

The Aspen Valley Polo Club has three other fields in the region. “The fourth field belongs to Texas-based sponsor, Jeff Hildebrand, in the High Mesa area. Together, this confederation of fields offers the club the flexibility to avoid weather delays and also allows fields to be rotated—neither overplayed nor underutilized,” the U.S. Polo organization said in a profile of the Aspen club.

Tonkawa has an “exquisite” 800-acre complex in Houston, according to Equestrian Worldwide. A 2023 help wanted ad for a “polo groom” position at Tonkawa Farms in Texas said there are two polo fields on the property and that the successful applicant could expect to move with the seasons along with the horses.

“We move to Florida in the winter and Colorado in the summer,” the ad said.

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Billionaire Hilcorp owner keeps a low profile, but not on the polo grounds