H&P’s legacy is filled with stories of incredible leaders, whose service attitude and dedication to doing the right thing have kept us turning to the right for a century. One of these leaders is Walter Helmerich III, the second CEO of Helmerich & Payne.
Walt became CEO of H&P in 1960, succeeding his father and one of H&P’s original founders, Walter Helmerich II. Like his father, the petroleum industry was not Walt III’s original career path, but after some convincing from his dad and his wife, Peggy, he joined the family business after finishing his MBA at Harvard University.
During his 30 years of leadership, Walt truly demonstrated H&P’s core value of innovation. He grew the company into a global corporation by expanding the contract drilling business into international and offshore operations, introducing modern processes and data collection and diversifying into other industries such as real estate. His forward-thinking approaches allowed the company to weather many economic storms and his commitment to mentoring younger employees into outstanding professionals is still felt by our people today.
In addition to leading H&P, Walt was also a civic leader in the Tulsa community. He and his wife Peggy were well known for their philanthropy and were gracious and generous in a way that inspired others to action. Since his passing in 2012, Peggy and the Helmerich foundation have continued his legacy of community support.
We appreciate all of the H&P leaders—both past and present—who have shaped our company and paved our way forward, together.
