Drayton McLane, the former Houston Astros owner who earned a graduate business degree from Michigan State University, returns to campus this week to talk with students and learn more about the Broad College of Business.
During his visit Wednesday and Thursday, McLane also will sit in on an entrepreneurship capstone class and judge business pitches at The Hive, an entrepreneurial institute on campus.
McLane was one of the earliest students to earn a graduate degree from MSU’s College of Business, in 1959. He leveraged his degree and knowledge to grow and then sell his family business, the McLane Co., to Wal-Mart, and then to purchase and later sell the Houston Astros. A billionaire, McLane is listed on the Forbes 400 richest people in America.
While still an undergraduate student at Baylor University in the late 1950s, McLane, a Texas native, found himself knocking at the door of MSU’s College of Business. After attending a conference in New Orleans where he heard Dean Kenneth Wilson and three MBA students speak about the MBA program at MSU, McLane was so impressed that when he returned to Texas he told his dad he wanted to attend the program.
He contacted Dean Wilson at MSU and was told he would need perfect grades in his last two semesters to be eligible. He did just that.
“I gained maturity and knowledge that there is a big world out there,” McLane said about his time at Michigan State.
After graduation he worked third shift in a warehouse for his father’s company. He eventually would become CEO.
McLane believes working in the warehouse was one of the defining moments of his life, teaching him how to motivate workers and enabling him to see the supply chain in action.
McLane has served as vice chairman of Wal-Mart Corp. and chairman of McLane Group.