US billionaire bets fortune on Texas ghost town
John Poindexter, an 81-year-old billionaire with no family of his own, is dedicating his entire fortune to revitalize Shafter, a ghost town in West Texas. The town, which had just 25 residents in 2025, once thrived as a silver-mining hub from 1883 to 1942. Poindexter, a former UPS truck body manufacturer and private equity investor, plans to transform the town into a resort and living history museum, featuring restored buildings like a saloon, general store, and post office.
The foundation he controls will eventually own all his properties, including the 30,000-acre Cibolo Creek Ranch where Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016.
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