The Southwest Area North regional winners of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year awards program had a strong showing this past weekend in the national competition, with MetroPCS Communications and Chesapeake Energy both walking away with top prizes. Other regional winners—Wayne Goldberg of LaQuinta and Dan Wilks and Farris Wilks of FracTech Services LLC—were named finalists in the national competition.
D CEO profiled all 2011 Southwest Area North honorees in its July/August issue.
The national winners and finalists were selected by an independent panel of judges from a pool of about 300 regional winners. Overall, the 2011 program garnered nearly 2,000 nominations from companies that generated a total of $125 billion in annual revenue and employ about 500,000 people.
Roger Linquist, chairman, president, and CEO of MetroPCS, won in the Media, Entertainment, and Communications category. Aubrey McClendon, founder of Chesapeake Energy, won in the Energy, Cleantech, and Natural Resources category.
Here are comments on the two CEOs from Ernst & Young:
Aubrey McClendon founded Chesapeake Energy, the nation’s second-biggest producer of natural gas after ExxonMobil, in 1989 with only $50,000. Chesapeake went public in 1993 in the worst-performing IPO of the year, but the stock rose to $34 after a major natural gas discovery in Texas boosted company revenues. McClendon has since strived to create a company that can weather the industry’s boom and bust cycles. In the last several years, McClendon has become a vocal evangelist of the potential of the natural gas industry to help the United States become energy-independent.
Right from the beginning, Roger Linquist, chairman, president, and CEO of MetroPCS, effectively changed the wireless landscape with the concept of no-contract, pay-in-advance unlimited service. In the most recent analysis, MetroPCS had nearly 9 million subscribers. But Linquist isn’t satisfied — he’s always looking to create new value. In late 2010, MetroPCS was first to market with the affordable next-generation 4G LTE network. The new addition doubled net income and boosted revenue 23% to $1.05 billion. Linquist says, “We’re really proud that with a company that has resource limitations, that we’re a part of moving technology forward.”
(Note: Here’s a RealPoints story from earlier in the year about MetroPCS’ expansion and hiring plans.)
The overall 2011 winners in the Ernst & Young program—now in its 25th year—were LinkedIn Corp.’s Reid Hoffman, chairman, and Jeff Weiner, CEO. The national awards were presented Nov. 12 in Palm Springs, Calif., at an event hosted by entertainer Jay Leno and attended by about 2,300 people. View acceptance speeches and video clips from the program here.
