An oil fortune from the Permian Basin
Lyndal Stephens Greth's wealth is inherited. It comes from Endeavor Energy Resources, the oil and gas producer her father, Autry Stephens, founded in Midland, Texas, in 1979. For more than four decades he built Endeavor into one of the largest privately owned producers in the Permian Basin of West Texas, the most productive oil field in the United States.
Endeavor grew steadily rather than dramatically. Autry Stephens accumulated acreage in the Midland Basin, part of the Permian, over many years, often at times when other companies were selling. When horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing transformed the region in the 2010s, that acreage became extremely valuable, because it allowed the company to drill long wells across contiguous blocks of land it already controlled.
Because Endeavor was private and largely owned by the Stephens family, the rise in the value of its land and production went to the family. That value was turned into a liquid fortune in 2024, when Endeavor agreed to merge with Diamondback Energy, a publicly listed producer also based in Midland. The deal paid the family in cash and in Diamondback stock, leaving them as one of the largest shareholders of the combined company.
Holdings after the Diamondback deal
The Diamondback transaction was announced in February 2024 and completed in September of that year after a review by antitrust regulators. It was one of several large mergers in the Permian at the time, as listed producers sought to secure drilling locations for years to come. The Stephens family received a large minority stake in Diamondback, along with a substantial cash payment, and gained the right to nominate directors to the Diamondback board.
As a result, the family's fortune is now tied mainly to Diamondback's share price and dividends rather than to a private operating company. Diamondback is one of the main independent oil producers in the United States, focused almost entirely on the Permian Basin.
Autry Stephens died in August 2024, shortly before the merger closed. His interests passed to his family, including Lyndal Stephens Greth, who with other family members already held interests in Endeavor through family entities. Family members hold their shares through trusts and other entities, which is common for fortunes of this kind and which also governs how and when shares may be sold.
A West Texas family
Autry Stephens grew up on a farm in Texas and studied petroleum engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. After working as an engineer in the oil industry, he started his own business in Midland during the oil boom of the late 1970s. He was known in the industry for staying private, avoiding publicity and keeping a conservative balance sheet, which helped Endeavor survive the oil price collapses of the 1980s, 2015 and 2020.
Lyndal Stephens Greth was born in the 1970s and grew up in a family whose life revolved around the oil business. Little has been published about her education or her early career, and she has given almost no interviews. She lives in Dallas.
Before the sale, Endeavor was run as a family company with a small group of senior managers, and members of the family were involved in its governance. After the merger, the operating business became part of Diamondback, and the family's role shifted to that of a large shareholder.
Private life and giving
The Stephens family has kept a low profile, both while Endeavor was private and after the sale. It does not run a widely publicized foundation in its own name, and most of its charitable activity has been local and discreet.
Autry Stephens was known in Midland as a supporter of community institutions, and the family has given to causes in West Texas, including education and health care in the communities where Endeavor operated. As with many energy families in Texas, gifts have often gone to universities, hospitals and local organizations rather than to national campaigns.
Lyndal Stephens Greth has not taken a public role in politics or in national philanthropy. As one of the heirs to a large shareholding in a listed oil company, her financial position will depend on the performance of Diamondback and on the long term outlook for oil and gas production in the Permian Basin, which remains the core of American crude output.