By: Cheryl Hall
Published: 27 October 2015 10:47 PM
Who says you can’t teach an old Texas billionaire new tricks?
T. Boone Pickens uses the power of social media to spread the gospel according to Boone on energy, politics and his alma mater, Oklahoma State University — and not necessarily in that order.
LinkedIn is the 87-year-old oil magnate’s go-to social medium, but he also shares his thoughts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and lately, his T. Boone Pickens Podcast Channel.
OK, so he gets by with a little help from his friends. Other people — notably his chief of staff, Jay Rosser — help him navigate these communication channels.
But anyone who knows Pickens knows that no one puts words in his mouth.
“I don’t mechanically do it,” Pickens says in his office last week. “They’ll say, ‘Here’s one you may want to respond to.’ Those are my responses. If I didn’t like doing it, I wouldn’t. I’ll have some thoughts about what somebody else has done, and I don’t mind putting it out there.”
True dat.
He also uses social media to express his softer side.
After tragedy struck OSU’s homecoming parade Saturday, Pickens tweeted: “Sad day for #okstate. Hearts are heavy. The Cowboy family will pull ever closer. Sadly, again.”
The again referred to the OSU athletes and coaches killed in 2001 and 2011 plane crashes.
Later at the game, Pickens took his first selfie after we requested one for this column. He took two shots on his iPhone 6 and was finished. He’s an impatient photo subject even when he’s the photographer.
Pickens was actually an early adopter. In 2008, he launched the Pickens Plan, a grass-roots campaign to encourage U.S. energy independence. Seven years later, it has 3,184,218 followers who believe Pickens is onto something.
.@ARod Impressive, smart guy. Having big @Yankees year. He may be more successful in business career than baseball. pic.twitter.com/zWZ3qi3woN
— T. Boone Pickens (@boonepickens) July 30, 2015
But what really sold him on the power of social media was his tweet seen around the world.
Pickens was being driven to a lunch meeting at the Center for BrainHealth in 2012 when he checked in with his office and was told that he’d been mentioned in a Twitter exchange.
Canadian rapper Drake had tweeted: “The first million is the hardest.”
Some guy responded: “You should check with @boonepickens.”
That triggered the Boone alert at BP Capital headquarters notifying the investment firm whenever the boss’ name crops up.
“So I told Rosser, ‘Ah, hell, tell him the first billion is a hell of a lot harder,’” Pickens recalls.
Drake then ate humble pie: “@boonepickens just stunted on me heavy.”
The first billion is a helluva lot harder RT @Drake: The first million is the hardest.
— T. Boone Pickens (@boonepickens) May 31, 2012
@boonepickens just stunted on me heavy.
— Drizzy (@Drake) May 31, 2012
Twitter exploded. Pickens was blown away with the unexpected hubbub.
So have the unlikely pair become tight?
“Yeah, sure. We’ve done some traveling together,” Pickens says. “Then he gives me a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding look when he realizes I’ve swallowed his clickbait.”
Drake’s “Hotline Bling” is currently No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 list. Pickens says he hasn’t heard the song or seen the bootylicious music video, but he might tweet out congratulations if it hits the top of the charts.
Convergence
Pickens’ tweets, posts, videos and podcasts all feed into each other.
Pickens uses LinkedIn to give his insight on business. Two weeks ago, he posted about his “magical rope folder,” a cheap black plastic folder with an elastic band that keeps the flap down and the contents in.
“Sally [Geymüller] stuffs it with all sorts of reading materials — letters, invitations, drilling reports — it’s my homework and stuff from my desk. It’s pretty old school, but it’s how I manage the deluge of communication that comes my way,” Pickens says.
On his podcasts, Pickens interviews experts and personalities about topics he feels are important. In a recent 12-minute segment, he talked about conservative politics with syndicated radio talk show host Laura Ingraham at his Mesa Vista Ranch in the Panhandle. Other podcasts have focused on the economy, the upcoming election and the Keystone pipeline.
“Twitter is a perfect way to capture Boone’s humor,” says Rosser, turning to his boss. “The one you tweeted to Obama about his pathetic workout was a great one.”
.@DezBryant #OKState proud of you. We’re both rich now. Want in on #OKState football stadium? “Pickens/Bryant Stadium” Not cheap though.
— T. Boone Pickens (@boonepickens) July 15, 2015
Talk about pitching one slow and down the middle.
In June 2014, leaked footage showed the president’s apparently less-than-strenuous exercise session while in Poland.
“He had like 5- or 10-pound weights in his hands,” Pickens says. “Hell, I curl 30s. It’s a joke. I don’t think he works out, really.”
So his personal trainer filmed Pickens running uphill in San Francisco. The resulting 10-second YouTube video to the tune “Eye of the Tiger” was attached to the Instagram/tweet: “I challenge Pres @BarackObama to a 1 hr workout. My cardio is better. Will work out energy plan for America #nosweat.”
Pickens has done 150 squats before our interview and admits being a little tight-legged. “Yeah, they’re parallel to the floor like this,” he says, doing his 151st. “I go down and touch the ball. My trainer always wants my legs to burn. And they do. And they will tomorrow, too.”
Did Obama ever respond?
“Nah,” Pickens says. “I knew he wouldn’t. I don’t think he’s a regular guy. But it got a lot of TV coverage.”
Yes, it did. And it’s instant newsmaking leverage that really attracts Pickens.
How tweet it is
When Pickens missed the Forbes billionaire list, ESPN’s Darren Rovell thumbed his nose on Twitter.
Pickens’ swift reponse was pure Boone: “@darrenrovell Don’t worry. At $950 million, I’m doing fine. Funny, my $1 billion charitable giving exceeds my net worth.”
Rosser has his own favorite tweet.
“Boone was watching an Oklahoma State-KU basketball game at Kansas. There was a lot of talk that Oklahoma State was going to recruit KU’s basketball coach, Bill Self. A bunch of students held up a sign: ‘Oil money can’t buy Bill.’ In other words, ‘Boone, we’re not going to let your money lure Bill Self away.’”
Pickens delights in picking up the punchline: “So I said, ‘No, but it sure bought a Big 12 football championship.’ That was a pretty good one, too.”
BY THE NUMBERS
T. Boone Pickens has picked up lots of online followers:
Active email list: 175,942
YouTube followers: 1,558
Tweets: 2,204
Pickens Plan followers: 3,184,218
Twitter: @pickensplan: 26,096
Twitter: @boonepickens: 135,617
LinkedIn: 1,419,205
Pickens Plan Facebook page: 38,774
T. Boone Pickens Facebook page: 9,779
T. Boone Pickens Instagram: 4,731