Texas Pacific Land Corporation

{{Short description|Land trust in Texas}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Texas Pacific Land Corporation

| logo =

| logo_size =

| type = Public

| traded_as = {{ubl|{{NYSE|TPL}}|S&P 500 component}}

| founded = {{Start date and age|1888|02|01}} as Texas Pacific Land Trust

| hq_location = Dallas, Texas, U.S.

| key_people = Tyler Glover
(CEO & President)
Chris Steddum (CFO)

| industry = {{ubl|Forestry|Real estate}}

| products = Oil/Gas Land Royalties

| revenue = {{decrease}} {{US$|631.6 million|link=yes}} (2023)

| operating_income = {{decrease}} US$486.0 million (2023)

| net_income = {{decrease}} US$405.6 million (2023)

| assets = {{increase}} US$1.156 billion (2023)

| equity= {{increase}} US$1.043 billion (2023)

| num_employees = 99 (2023)

| subsid =

| website = {{URL|https://www.TexasPacific.com}}

| footnotes = {{cite web|url=https://www.texaspacific.com/investors/sec-filings/all-sec-filings/content/0001811074-24-000015/tpl-20231231.htm|title=Texas Pacific Land Corp 2023 Annual Report 10-K|year=2023}}

}}

The Texas Pacific Land Corporation is a publicly traded real estate operating company with its administrative office in Dallas, Texas. Owning over {{convert|880000|acre|km2}} in 20 West Texas counties, TPL is among the largest private landowners in the state of Texas. It was previously organized as a publicly traded trust taxed as a corporation, and operated under the name Texas Pacific Land Trust.

TPL has two business lines: royalties from oil and gas, its main business segment, and selling water.{{cite web |url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1811074/000181107423000014/tpl-20221231.htm |title=FORM 10-K: Texas Pacific Land Corporation |website=sec.gov |access-date=2024-03-16}}

History

Texas Pacific Land Holdings was created in 1888 in the wake of the Texas and Pacific Railway bankruptcy, as a means to dispose of the T&P's vast land holdings. Over 3.5 million acres were put into the trust, and bondholders exchanged their bonds for shares.{{cite news |last1=Crowley |first1=Kevin |title=The 130-Year-Old Bankruptcy That Created a $5 Billion Oil Giant |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-14/the-130-year-old-bankruptcy-that-created-a-5-billion-oil-giant |access-date=14 May 2024 |work=www.bloomberg.com |date=14 May 2018}} Trustees were to sell the land and repay shareholders, eventually liquidating the trust, though there was no timetable for liquidation.{{cite news |title=Dallas company trying to go out of business since 1888 is one of world's hottest stocks |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/business/personal-finance/2016/10/10/dallas-company-trying-to-go-out-of-business-since-1888-is-one-of-world-s-hottest-stocks/ |access-date=14 May 2024 |work=Dallas News |date=10 October 2016 |language=en}} The certificates were later divided into "sub-share" certificates on a 100 for one basis, which have been traded on the NYSE since January 1927.{{cite news |title=TEXAS PACIFIC LAND TO SPLIT ITS SHARES|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/01/06/archives/texas-pacific-land-to-split-its-shares-highest-priced-securities-on.html |access-date=14 May 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=6 January 1927}} One such bond, No. 390, was not exchanged for stocks at this time. In 1979, a bank officer at Wells Fargo tracked down its ownership to Dutch sailor Joseph Raphael De Lamar. Worth $3,000 in 1888, the bond had been provided to De Lamar as partial payment for a debt. In 1979 its value was $3.2 million.{{cite news |title=Hunt by Amateur Sleuth Leads to a $4 Million Find |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/26/archives/hunt-by-amateur-sleuth-leads-to-a-4-million-find-one-bond-wasnt.html |access-date=17 May 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=26 December 1979}}{{cite news |last1=Weisskopf |first1=Michael |title=Stock Worth $3.2 Million Triggers 5-Way Battle |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/12/25/stock-worth-32-million-triggers-5-way-battle/6ab5fab0-f368-45f9-8ef9-4e25fb7145e5/ |access-date=17 May 2024 |date=24 December 1979}}

In 1954, shareholders approved the transfer of mineral rights on the land to a new entity, TXL Oil Corporation, who could engage in the exploration, drilling and development of oil and gas properties. At the time, TPL’s holdings included approximately 1.8 million acres across 28 counties in Texas.{{cite news |title=Texas Pacific Land Trust Votes New Set-Up for Mineral Holdings; TXL Oil Corporation Formed to Manage All Gas and Petroleum Properties of Concern Chartered in 1888 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1954/11/23/84438714.html?pageNumber=53 |access-date=17 May 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=23 November 1954 |language=en}} Between 1980 and 1995, TPL bought back stock more quickly than it sold land, reducing its outstanding shares by 34% and its land inventory by only 8%, to 1.1 million acres.{{cite news |last1=Weil |first1=Jonathan |title=Texas Pacific Land Trust OffersA Get-Rich-Slow Opportunity - WSJ |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB88653506413772000 |access-date=17 May 2024 |work=WSJ |date=4 February 1998}}

In 2010, the introduction of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling unlocked oil and gas within the Permian shale, where TPL owned approximately 909,000 acres of land.{{cite news |last1=Gell |first1=Aaron |title=One Of The Hottest Stocks On The NYSE Is A Company Most Of Us Have Never Heard Of — And It's Got An Incredible Backstory |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-pacific-land-trust-2014-8 |access-date=14 May 2024 |work=Business Insider |date=7 August 2014}} In 2016, there was a significant discovery of oil and gas reserves in the southern portion of the Delaware Basin in Reeves County where the company owned substantial land. Subsequently, the company’s annual revenue rose from $66 million in 2016 to $451 million in 2021.{{cite news |last1=Alpert |first1=Bill |title=How Rising Oil Prices Turned This Texas Scrubland Into an Energy Stock Worth Fighting Over |url=https://www.barrons.com/articles/texas-pacific-land-stock-pick-51648685688 |access-date=14 May 2024 |date=31 March 2022}}

In 2019, TPL settled a months-long proxy fight over the election of trustee Eric Oliver. As part of the settlement, the company established a committee to explore whether Texas Pacific should be converted to a Delaware corporation.{{cite news |title=Texas land trust settles with Horizon Kinetics-led investor group |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN1UQ1TF/ |access-date=17 May 2024 |date=31 July 2019}} In 2021, the company reorganized from a trust to a corporation, was subsequently renamed Texas Pacific Land Corporation, and appointed a board of directors to govern.{{cite news |last1=Leffert |first1=Catherine |title=Local public company sparks more disputes with investors amid corporate governance concerns |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2021/11/30/texas-pacific-land-corporate-governance.html |access-date=17 May 2024 |work=www.bizjournals.com |date=30 November 2021}}

Operations

TPL is among the largest private landowners in the State of Texas. As of 2022, the corporation owned approximately {{convert|880000|acre|km2}} of land in 20 West Texas counties.{{cite news |title=The most unusual stock tip I've ever gotten |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/business/2012/05/07/the-most-unusual-stock-tip-ive-ever-gotten/ |access-date=19 May 2024 |work=Dallas News |date=7 May 2012 |language=en}}

Approximately two-thirds of TPL’s income is derived from oil and gas royalties. Another 30% is derived from supplying and disposing of water used in fracking shale. In June 2017, TPL hired a team from EOG Resources and established the Texas Pacific Water Resources, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary that offers brackish water sourcing, water disposal, water recycling, and other hydrocarbon extraction related water services.{{Cite news|url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170608006364/en/Texas-Pacific-Land-Trust-Announces-Formation-Water|title=Texas Pacific Land Trust Announces Formation of Water Resources Company|access-date=2018-11-27|language=en}}

References

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