Robert Brockman

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Robert T. Brockman is an American billionaire and former CEO of Ohio-based Reynolds & Reynolds software company. He was charged in October 2020 with running a $2 billion tax evasion scheme.

Early life and education[]

Brockman grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida with his brother Thomas David Brockman. His father Alfred Eugene Brockman was a gas-station owner and his mother, Pearl was a physiotherapist. Brockman briefly attended Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, and later graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida in 1963 and was a member of its business honor society.[1][2]

Career[]

Brockman started his career in 1964 as a marketing trainee with Ford Motors and was a Marine Corps reservist at the same time.[3] From 1966 to 1970, he worked at IBM and was the leading U.S. salesman in IBM's service bureau.[3][4][5]

Brockman founded Universal Computer Systems, a computer systems and software provider for car dealerships, in 1970 in his living room. The company sold its first in-dealership computer system in 1982.[4]

The company merged with Reynolds & Reynolds on August 8, 2006. He became the CEO after the merger.[6]

Tax fraud charges[]

A 39-count indictment was filed against Brockman in September 2020 in the Northern District of California.[7] Brockman was accused of engaging in a 20-year long scheme to hide around $2 billion in income from the IRS. List of charges included tax evasion, wire fraud, money laundering, and failure to disclose assets held overseas.[8][9] Brockman pleaded not guilty and was released on a $1 million bond.[3]

Brockman is an investor in Vista Equity Partners, whose founder Robert F. Smith narrowly reached a non-prosecution agreement with the United States Department of Justice, agreeing in October 2020 to pay a fine of $139 million for failure to pay about $200 million in taxes.[2][10][11][12]

In October 2021, Brockman and Smith were both among those listed in the Pandora Papers revelations, which exposed offshore shelters of the financial assets of hundreds of politicians, business people, and celebrities.[12]

Personal life[]

Brockman married at age 18 in Kentucky and later divorced. He Later married to Dorothy Kay Brockman in 1968; the couple lives in Houston.[1][5] He is known to be very private individual and refused public interviews.[4]

Brockman owns a Bombardier private jet, a 209-foot yacht named Turmoil , a 17,000-sq.ft. residence in Houston and a 5,800-square-foot cabin in Aspen, Colorado.[1]

He is prolific donor to Republican groups and causes.[13][14]

Philanthropy and board memberships[]

In July 2013, Centre College in Danville, Kentucky announced that it had received a $250 million donation from Brockman's charitable trust. This donation was later withdrawn, when a "significant capital market event", upon which the gift was contingent, did not occur.[15][16][17]

Brockman has donated money to, and has two named buildings on the campus of, Rice University in Houston. He is also on the Council of Overseers of the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business.[5][18]

He serves on the Board of Trustees of Centre College and Baylor College of Medicine.[19][20]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Maremont, Mark; Gottfried, Miriam (3 March 2021). "The Billionaire Behind the Biggest U.S. Tax Fraud Case Ever Filed". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b Helman, Christopher (February 5, 2021). "The Manipulative, Little Known Billionaire Who Nearly Ruined The Country's Richest Black Person". Forbes. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Michaels, Dave; Gottfried, Miriam (15 October 2020). "Houston Software Executive Robert Brockman Charged With Tax Evasion". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Kisiel, Ralph (4 September 2006). "Mystery man behind merger". Automotive News. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "Robert T. Brockman". Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  6. ^ Hiers, Trey (October 24, 2006). "Reynolds and Reynolds Shareholders Approve Merger With Universal Computer Systems". GlobeNewswire (Press release). Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  7. ^ Brockman Indictment: CEO of Multibillion-dollar Software Company Indicted for Decades-long Tax Evasion and Wire Fraud Schemes (Report). San Francisco: United States Department of Justice. October 1, 2020. pp. 1–40. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  8. ^ Voreacos, David; Weinberg, Neil (15 October 2020). "Houston Tech Mogul Indicted for 'Largest-Ever Tax Charge'". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  9. ^ Duffy, Clare (October 17, 2020). "Software CEO Robert Brockman charged in $2 billion tax evasion case". CNN. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  10. ^ Saunders, Laura (23 October 2020). "The IRS Reels in a Whale of an Offshore Tax Cheat—and Goes for Another". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  11. ^ Primack, Dan (October 16, 2020). "Billionaire philanthropist Robert Smith's tax fraud roils Vista Equity". Axios. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Offshore hvens and hidden riches of world leaders and billionaires exposed in unprecedented leak," October 3, 2021, The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, retrieved October 4, 2021
  13. ^ Murphy, Tim (June 20, 2012). "3 Companies, 1 PO Box, and a $1 Million Super-PAC Gift". Mother Jones. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  14. ^ Schwartz, Brian (5 March 2021). "GOP groups quiet as billionaire donor stands accused of running biggest tax fraud scheme ever". CNBC. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  15. ^ Lattman, Peter (September 9, 2013). "A $250 Million Pledge to a College Evaporates as a Deal Collapses". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  16. ^ Rivard, Ry (September 10, 2013). "Centre College loses huge donation". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  17. ^ Maheshwari, Sapna; Allyn, Bobby (October 1, 2013). "How A Reclusive Texas Billionaire Took Back The Biggest-Ever Donation To A Liberal Arts College". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  18. ^ Leibrock, Keegan; Fredericks, Skye (October 27, 2020). "Prominent Rice Donor Charged in Multi-Billion Dollar Tax Fraud Case". The Rice Thresher. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  19. ^ Hart, Robin (20 October 2020). "Centre life trustee charged in $2 billion tax fraud scheme". The Advocate-Messenger. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  20. ^ "Baylor College of Medicine appoints new board chairman". Biz Journals. May 22, 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
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