Ray Washburne

Best known as the owner of Highland Park Village, Washburne sits at the intersection of Dallas real estate, retail and Republican politics. He grew up in the surrounding neighborhood and attended Southern Methodist University, where he met his wife, Heather Hill Washburne, a descendant of the Hunt oil family.

He acquired the landmark shopping plaza in 2009 for $170 million from Henry S. Miller Interests, the family office of Dallas real estate figure Henry S. Miller. Anchored by luxury tenants and bordering some of the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods, Highland Park Village commands among the highest retail rents in Texas.

Washburne is also CEO and president of Charter Holdings, a Dallas-based real estate investment firm, and a co-founder of M Restaurant Group, which operates the Mi Cocina chain. His current development pipeline spans multiple parts of the city, including a mixed-use project on Knox Street in partnership with Trammell Crow and a series of downtown land positions tied to the redevelopment of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. Those holdings include the former Dallas Morning News building and the Greyhound Station.

A longtime Republican donor and fundraiser, he served as national finance chairman of the Republican National Committee and was vice chairman of the Trump Victory Committee in 2016. From 2017 to 2019, he was President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and later served on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.

— Jess Hardin