How Randa built the fortune
Randa Duncan Williams owes her wealth to Enterprise Products Partners, one of the largest midstream energy companies in North America. Her father, Dan Duncan, founded the business in Houston in 1968 with a truck and a small amount of capital, selling and transporting propane. Over four decades he built it into a network of pipelines, storage caverns, processing plants and export terminals that move natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals from production areas to refineries, chemical plants and ports. The company's assets are concentrated along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast, where they connect production from the Permian Basin and other shale regions with petrochemical plants and export docks around Houston.
Enterprise went public as a master limited partnership in 1998, a structure that lets the company pass most of its cash flow to unitholders as distributions. The Duncan family kept control through the general partner and large holdings of partnership units. Those distributions, paid quarterly and increased over many years, have provided the family with a steady stream of income on top of the value of the units themselves. Enterprise has also been known for keeping its distributions growing through periods of low energy prices, which has made its units popular with income focused investors.
After Dan Duncan died in 2010, his holdings passed to his heirs and to trusts, and Randa, his eldest daughter, became one of the people responsible for the family's control of the company. She serves as chairman of the board of the general partner of Enterprise Products Partners and of EPCO, the private family company that holds the Duncan interests. Professional executives run the business day to day, while the family oversees strategy and governance. Her role is therefore focused on stewardship of a large inherited holding, ensuring that the family's interests are represented while the business is run by experienced managers.
Companies and holdings
Enterprise operates tens of thousands of miles of pipelines, mainly in Texas and along the Gulf Coast, along with fractionation plants that separate natural gas liquids and terminals that export liquefied petroleum gas and other products. Its scale makes it a key link between US shale producers and buyers at home and abroad. The partnership has expanded through both construction of new assets and acquisitions, including mergers with affiliated partnerships and the purchase of other pipeline and terminal businesses.
- Enterprise Products Partners, family controlled stake in units and the general partner
- EPCO, the Duncan family holding company, chairman
- Family trusts established by Dan Duncan
- Shares in the family fortune held alongside her siblings Milane, Dannine and Scott
Early life and career
Williams grew up in Houston, where her father built his company. She trained as a lawyer and practised law before joining the family business, gaining experience that later proved useful in managing complex trusts, partnership agreements and corporate governance. Growing up as the eldest child of a founder who worked long hours to build the company, she saw the business develop from a small propane distributor into a major pipeline operator.
She joined EPCO in the 1990s and took on a series of roles involving the family's holdings and the oversight of Enterprise. Over time she became the most visible member of the family in the business and was named chairman after her father's death, leading the board through a period in which Enterprise simplified its structure and absorbed affiliated partnerships. Her legal background has been relevant in managing the trusts that Dan Duncan set up, which hold a large part of the family's interests.
Philanthropy and public life
The Duncan family is among the larger donors to medical institutions in Houston. Dan Duncan gave major gifts that led to the naming of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine and the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital. Randa and her family have continued support for health and education causes, including through family foundations.
She keeps a modest public profile and gives few interviews. Her public role is mostly connected to her position on the Enterprise board and to Houston's civic and charitable institutions.