Peter M. Holt is an American businessman. He is the CEO of HoltCat,
the largest Caterpillar dealership in the United States and chairman, CEO, and
owner of Spurs Sports & Entertainment, which owns the NBA's San Antonio Spurs,
the WNBA's San Antonio Stars, the AHL's San Antonio Rampage, and the NBA
Development League's Austin Spurs. Early life and military career
Holt is the great-grandson of Benjamin Holt, who developed the first practical
track-type tractor 100 years ago. The Holt family’s history in San Antonio,
Texas began in 1933, when Peter’s great uncle, William K. "Bill" Holt, moved to
San Antonio to start a Caterpillar dealership. He had no heirs, so Bill
invited B.D. Holt to get involved in the business. In 1961, B.D. Holt moved to
Corpus Christi, Texas and started his own Caterpillar dealership.
Peter Holt, a Peoria, Illinois native, lived in San Antonio as a child before
moving to Corpus Christi. After high school in Corpus Christi, Peter Holt
went into the United States Army, serving two years, including a one-year
tour of duty as an infantryman in Vietnam. He ended his military duty as a
Sergeant with a Silver Star and three Bronze Star Medals for Valor and a
Purple Heart for wounds received. Business career
Upon returning to the United States, Holt went to California, working for an
investment banking house and became involved in a bar and restaurant
business. Holt rejoined his father in the Holt Companies in 1983 in Corpus
Christi. As president and CEO, Holt implemented a strategy to diversify the
company’s markets, taking it from one of the smallest Caterpillar dealerships to
the largest one in the country today. In September 1987, Peter and his father
purchased Holt Machinery Co., in San Antonio, reuniting the original
Caterpillar dealership that Bill Holt started in 1933. Holt would later expand
the company's Texas presence by purchasing Darr Equipment Company of
Dallas, the Caterpillar dealer for the DFW Metroplex.
Sports franchise owner Holt believes in a values-based
management philosophy, in which the community gains benefits from
association with a company that is committed to proper business ethics. A
company's responsibility leads to the company supporting community projects,
leading to mutual benefit for the community and company. These values were
one of the primary factors in Holt's 1993 decision to invest in the Spurs.
His desire was to keep the team in San Antonio to help the community and vice
versa. He and his wife Julianna Hawn Holt are now the franchise’s principal
owners. Holt and the Spurs later purchased other
franchises – the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League, the San Antonio
Rampage of the American Hockey League, and the renamed San Antonio Silver Stars
of the WNBA. In each case, the team colors were changed to silver and black,
the motif used by the Spurs. In the last several years, Holt has seen
his "community project" succeed in extraordinary ways. In June 1999, Holt
joined with hundreds of thousands of Spurs faithful in celebrating the team’s
first NBA Championship. In order to keep the team in San Antonio, Holt led a
successful effort to secure community support to build a new community arena,
the AT&T Center. The new home to the Spurs and the San Antonio Livestock
Exposition broke ground in August 2000 and opened with the 2002 season. Holt's
Spurs secured four more championships in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014. He is one of
the few owners in the league that has not gone over the luxury tax threshold
to secure needed talent. Keeping consistent with his desire to
see the Spurs organization lead in the community, Holt has mandated that the
Spurs have the first Green facilities in American professional sports.
With a long commitment to community service, Holt served as Chairman of the
United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County. He is a member of the World
Presidents’ Organization, and is a trustee of the Palmer Drug Abuse
Program. He also served as Chairman of the Board of St. Mary's Hall, a private
school in San Antonio. A frequent contributor to the Republican
Party, Holt has contributed over $500,000 to the campaigns of Governor
Rick Perry, who appointed Holt as a commissioner of the Texas Department of
Parks and Wildlife. A strong supporter of international trade, Holt is a board
member of Free Trade Alliance-San Antonio, as well as the San Antonio
Economic Development Foundation and Chase Bank-San Antonio.
Holt plans on staying in San Antonio, and active in the Caterpillar business,
looking forward to the possibility of welcoming his children into the family
business. Holt was inducted to the Texas Business
Hall of Fame in 2004. Awards and honors
= Military= Three-time Bronze Star recipient
Silver Star recipient Purple Heart recipient
= Business= CAT Circle of Excellence Award winner
Texas Business Hall of Fame inductee 2014 USAA/NaVOBA Vetrepreneur of The
Year Award winner = Sports=
Five-time NBA Champion 2012 NBADL Champion
References External links
Holt Caterpillar web site San Antonio Spurs web site