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He hardly needs gambling winnings. Much of Pickens' wealth comes from his ownership of stock in Mesa, which invests heavily in the companies Pickens bids for and thus profits handsomely from his deals. His ownership of some 1.5 million Mesa shares and options for 4.8 million others is worth more than $100 million at current market prices. His annual salary of $475,000 is modest by present corporate standards. But in 1980 Mesa gave $7.86 million in salary and stock options to Pickens, making him the best-paid executive in the U.S. that year. His golden parachute in case Mesa is ever taken over is fairly small: two years' salary, or just under $1 million. He would probably also exercise stock options that could be worth tens of millions of dollars. Pickens is a man of Texas-size property. "He can live like an Indian prince," says a friend. His holdings include the 2B Ranch, a 14,000-acre spread where he and Beatrice stable eleven horses and hunt together. Then there is a 6,500-acre Oklahoma cattle ranch and, for a change of scenery, a vacation retreat in California's Palm Springs. Pickens' $1.5 million year- round home in Amarillo boasts a sunken tennis court, a 20-ft.-high glass- enclosed gallery, plus a library of more than 1,000 volumes that includes a collection of rare illus- trated books on American Indians.
Though Pickens is busy running Mesa, making speeches and hatching future deals, he may also have political ambitions. He found time to attend last summer's Republican National Convention as a delegate and to chair a fund- raising drive for President Reagan. Gerald Ford recently visited with him in Amarillo. One of Beatrice's children now works in the Reagan White House personnel office, and helped organize the youth vote in the last campaign. There has been talk that Pickens might run for Governor of Texas next year. He does not discourage such chatter.
Pickens already has a gifted politician's knack for portraying himself in the best possible light as the champion of the common man. Of course, he also looks out for No. 1. But are his and other takeover fights good or bad for the U.S. economy? They have clearly made life miserable for the corporate officers with whom Pickens has dueled. They distract these officers from running their businesses and force them to spend great sums of time and money fighting off attacks. The takeover maneuvers can also lead to the assumption of mountains of debt by firms that make acquisitions or reach costly settlements.
Still, the mergers prompted by Pickens and other raiders have their beneficial side. Writes the President's Council of Economic Advisers in its latest annual report: "The available evidence is that mergers and acquisitions increase national wealth. They improve efficiency, transfer scarce resources to higher valued uses and stimulate effective corporate management." Perhaps the most important result is that Pickens and his fellow raiders have served notice on the leaders of American firms. If they do not manage their companies skillfully, they could find themselves in the middle of a takeover fight with the gambler from Amarillo, or someone like him.